


Saturday Plans

by huesofthemorning



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-08-07 09:44:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 36,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16406042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huesofthemorning/pseuds/huesofthemorning
Summary: The first time Nico showed up at her house, Eli was completely unprepared. The second time Nico showed up, Eli was surprised. By the fourth time Eli found herself expecting the doorbell to ring, and by the fifth she realized that she was looking forward to seeing the other girl. But it wasn’t until their eighth outing that Eli finally decided to ask why. Why Nico had started spending time with her, why she was trying so hard to come up with places to go, and why Eli herself wanted so badly for their meetings to never end.





	1. Arcade

**Author's Note:**

> reposting this from FFnet. my other LL fics are over there for anyone interested. Username is huesofthemorning

The first time Nico showed up at her house, Eli was completely unprepared.

“We’re going out,” the girl stated the second the door opened. “So put your coat on and let’s go.”

Eli paused, frowning. Had she made plans with Nico? She didn’t think so. No, she definitely hadn’t. Saturday was her work day, after all. Occasionally she would make plans for Sunday, but never Saturday. And with Nico? Despite them both being third years, Eli wouldn’t consider them close. The only time they really talked was during practice, or when Nozomi pulled the two of them together. So why had Nico shown up, by herself, without any warning? Was there something she was missing?

“Why?” Eli finally responded, trying to put her thoughts into words.

Nico just gave her a confused look. “What kind of question is that? It’s the middle of January, that’s why. I know you’re from Russia where it probably snows in the summer or something, but I’m pretty sure you still need a coat. Seriously, what kind of answer are you even looking for?”

“It doesn’t snow in the summer. But that’s not what I meant. I was asking why we’re going out. I don’t remember making plans.”

“What, you don’t remember?” Nico huffed, crossing her arms. “I would have thought that the former  _student council president_  would remember something she talked about  _one day_  ago.”

Eli paled. “Well, I mean—“

“I’m kidding,” Nico said flatly, rolling her eyes. “Jeez, you’re so gullible. We didn’t make any plans. I just felt like stopping by and hanging out. Is that a problem? Besides, I doubt you were busy. Your social life is worse than  _mine_ , after all. You were probably just sitting in your room, working on next month’s homework or something.”

“I don’t go  _that_  far ahead,” Eli protested. “I was only working on the assignments for next week.”

“Wait, seriously? You were  _actually_  getting ahead on work?”

Eli was just self-aware enough to blush. “There’s nothing wrong with getting a head start on things,” she mumbled.

Nico groaned. “I can’t believe you. It’s a good thing I came over! You’re going to overwork yourself, you know? But don’t worry, the ever-thoughtful Nico-Nii is here to the rescue! So come on, let’s get going already!”

She turned around and started walking towards the stairs, refusing to listen to any more protests. She had waited long enough. It was cold outside, after all, and the sooner they got moving the sooner she would warm up. Eli sighed, slipping her shoes on and grabbing her coat before hurrying to catch up with the shorter girl. It didn’t seem like she any choice but to follow.

“Where are we going, anyways?”

“The arcade.”

“The arcade?”

“What, do you have a better idea?”

“I suppose not…”

“That’s what I thought.”

They walked in silence after at, each occupied with their own thoughts. Eli shivered lightly at a gust of wind, pulling her coat tighter. It was a cold day: snow was piled up on the edges of the streets, and the cloudy sky told of more to come. The sidewalks were empty, everyone choosing to stay inside where it was warm. That had been Eli’s plan, too. Spend the day curled up under the blanket with a mug of hot chocolate while doing homework. It would have been a nice, relaxing Saturday.

She sighed silently, glancing over at Nico. It didn’t look like she was enjoying the cold any more than Eli was. Her shoulders were hunched up, hands buried deep in her coat pockets. A small frown was on her face, and Eli wondered what she was thinking. She sighed again, looking around at the buildings they passed.

This… wasn’t how she had wanted her Saturday to go.

But she might as well get over that and make the most of it. They were already half way to the arcade, so there was no sense in going back home. And besides, Nico must have had a good reason to invite her out, even if she didn’t know what it was. Eli didn’t want to disappoint her. Despite how troublesome the other girl could be – Eli distinctly remembered the whole ‘backup dancer’ fiasco – they were still friends, and Eli did care for her. She owed it to Nico to at least try and enjoy the outing.

“How do you think the competition is going to go?” she finally asked.

“Huh?” Nico glanced up, only to find that Eli was looking away from her. “You mean Love Live?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m not worried about it,” Nico stated confidently. Eli turned to her in surprise.

“Really?”

“Why should I be? I’m Super Idol Nico-Nii, remember? I’m going to be the Number One idol in the world! And I guess the rest of you aren’t too bad, either.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

“So there’s nothing to worry about,” Nico continued, ignoring the muttered comment. “We have two and a half months left to practice. And yeah, we’ll be going up against some tough groups, but we’re a pretty tough group ourselves, you know! We beat A-RISE, after all.”

“I’m still not quite sure how we beat them,” Eli admitted. “They have so much more experience than us.”

“It doesn’t matter how we beat them. We did, and that’s that. Now we just have to go beat everyone else.”

Eli shook her head and gave a small smile. Nico’s optimism – or was it stubbornness?- was always strangely comforting.  “I suppose you’re right.”

“I’m always right!”

Eli hummed in assent as they fell back into silence. Nico watched her out of the corner of her eye. She really wasn’t very good at this, was she? Here she was, trying to be a good friend and spend time with Eli, and she couldn’t even think of something to say. She squeezed her hands into fists, trying to get rid of the frustration growing inside her. Maybe this was a mistake, showing up at Eli’s house out of the blue and taking her to the arcade. Did Eli even like arcades? Knowing her, she’s probably never even been to one. Nico frowned. Why didn’t she think of that beforehand? This was an awful idea. They should probably just stop now and promise never to speak of this awkward attempt at hanging out ever again.

 _No. You’re seeing this through to the end, Nico,_  she berated herself.  _When have you ever given up this easily?_   _Come on, there must be_  something  _you can talk about! You’re going to an arcade. Talk about that!_

Nico dug her hands deeper into her pockets and took a deep breath.

“So. What kind of arcade games do you like?” She took a quick glance at Eli, trying to judge the girl’s reaction. Eli’s expression changed from surprised to thoughtful. That was good, right?

“I don’t think I’ve ever been to an arcade before, actually. The idea never interested me very much.”

Nico cursed under her breath. This was definitely, definitely a bad idea.

“Ah!” Eli realized her mistake when she saw Nico’s frown return, and she scrambled to fix it. “I’m not saying that I don’t want to go, though! I’m, uh, I’m looking forward to it, actually! It’ll be something new, and it’s always good to try new things, right?”

“If you didn’t want to go to an arcade, you should have just said so at the beginning.”

“That’s not—“

“That  _is_  what you’re saying. It’s fine. I don’t care. It was a dumb idea to begin with.”

Nico glared at the ground.  _Stupid, stupid, stupid._   _Of course she doesn’t like arcades, why would she? They probably seem childish to her. I should have come up with something more sophisticated, like a museum. It would have been boring as hell, but at least Eli wouldn’t hate it. I can’t believe I messed up this badly, and on the first time, too._

Eli bit her lip, trying to come up with a solution. Nico looked really mad; she was practically stomping as they walked, and she refused to look up. That wasn’t what Eli meant to happen. She really  _wasn’t_  opposed to going to an arcade, after all. It was true that she had never wanted to before, but it wasn’t like she hated the place. But how to explain that to Nico? Eli doubted that anything she said would be taken the right way. Nico would just think she was coming up with an excuse. She needed to distract her first.

“What’s your favorite game?”

“What?” Nico looked up, startled. She had been expecting a lot of things – an apology, an excuse, a ‘good riddance’ – but that question was not one of them.

“You’ve been to the arcade plenty of times before, right? I’m sure there are games you’re really good at.”

“Of course I’m good at the games! Who do you think you’re talking to?” Nico glared at her, and Eli gave herself a mental pat on the back. The best way to distract Nico was to get her to talk about herself, and it seemed to have worked this time.

“Right, right, I’m sorry for forgetting. Which ones are your favorites, then?”

“Hmph.” Nico crossed her arms in annoyance, but her shoulders had relaxed slightly. Eli’s plan was working, it seemed. She just had to hope that her last step would be enough to fix her earlier mistake.

“If I had to pick,” Nico continued. “I’d have to say karaoke and ddr. I’m practically unbeatable at those.” She smiled smugly, ignoring the memory of the younger members in Muse scoring better than her all those months ago. It had been an off day, she told herself. There’s no chance they’d ever beat her now.

Eli took a deep breath, knowing that she might regret her next words but needing to say them anyways. “I bet I could beat you.”

Nico stopped dead, her mouth falling open. “ _You?_  You’ve never even been to an arcade before, and you think you can  _beat_  me?”

“There’s only one way to find out, isn’t there?” Eli stopped walking and looked behind her, watching as Nico narrowed her eyes and gritted her teeth.

“Oh, it is  _on._ ”

Nico marched forward, determined now to go to the arcade.  _I don’t even care if Eli hates the arcade_ , she decided,  _no one challenges me like that and gets away with it._

Eli smiled as she followed. She was definitely going to regret this, that was sure. But Nico didn’t seem upset anymore, so she still considered it a victory. Probably the only victory she was going to get today.  _What kind of game is ‘ddr’ anyways?_

They made it to the arcade a few minutes later. Nico strode straight to the back of the building, heading for the ddr machines. Eli trailed behind slowly, eyes wide as she looked around. There were people everywhere; clustered around the crane games, playing video games, and sitting at the tables eating food from the snack bar. It was incredibly noisy. People were talking and shouting and cheering their friends on. Eli could barely make sense of it all.

She paused for a moment as she passed by an air hockey table. Two girls were battling it out as spectators watched with excitement. The clink of the puck hitting the sides of table was almost mesmerizing, and Eli found herself standing still, following the movement of the disc as it slid back and forth across the table.

“There you are!”

Eli jumped as Nico grabbed her arm. She blinked at her for a moment, still half in a trance, before realizing that she had forgotten to follow the other girl.

Nico rolled her eyes in annoyance. “I look away for two seconds and you go and disappear on me. It’s just air hockey; it’s not that exciting, I promise. Come on, ddr is over here.”

Eli just nodded as Nico dragged her through the crowd. “I didn’t realize there would be so many people here,” she finally managed to say when they came to a stop.

“It’s a bit more crowded than usual, but it _is_ a Saturday. There’s always a bunch of people here on the weekend.”

“Don’t they have work to do?”

“What’s with you and work? They probably do it all Sunday night, like normal high school students. But let’s stop talking about work; that’s boring stuff. Have you ever played this before?”

Eli shook her head slowly, looking warily at the machine in front of her. It was a lot quieter in this part of the building, so they had the entire game to themselves. That was probably a good thing, Eli figured, since they wouldn’t have to wait for their turn. But it also meant that there wasn’t anyone that she could watch in order to get a grasp on how to play. It looked like some sort of dancing game? The screen showed a pattern of arrows rising to the top before disappearing. Did they correspond to the arrows on the ground? That would make sense, but Eli didn’t know what to do with them.

“Well, that’s about what I figured. You’re the one who challenged me, so really you don’t deserve an explanation. It’s your own fault for picking a game you don’t know about it. _But_ , since I’m feeling generous today, I’ll tell you the basics.”

Nico quickly went over the idea of the game. Eli listened carefully, trying to picture what it would be like. It didn’t seem _too_ complicated, but she was pretty sure that she would change her mind after playing it.

“…and that’s all there is too it!” Nico finished. She stepped up onto one of the pads and started touching the screen, scrolling through a list of songs. “Here! We’ll start with an easy one. You ready?”

“I think so,” Eli said, moving to stand on the center of her pad. She looked over at Nico’s screen and read the song title. Well, at least it was one she actually knew. Hopefully that would help her a bit.

“Prepare to be beat!” Nico grinned in excitement as she started the game.

Eli stared hard at the screen, tuning out the music and waiting for the first arrows to appear. She was already resigned to the fact that she was going to lose, but she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. After being rewarded with a few ‘goods’ and ‘greats’ as she timed her steps correctly, Eli began to relax slightly. This wasn’t so hard. The next sequence of arrows came slowly, and Eli took the chance to glance over at Nico. She nearly tripped over her own feet at what she saw.

Nico danced easily on her pad, eyes bright and a wide smile on her lips as her screen flashed the word ‘perfect’ over and over again.

 _I didn’t realize there was a higher score than ‘great’_ , Eli thought faintly. She shook herself out of her daze and concentrated on her own screen. The song wasn’t even half-over; there was plenty of time for her to catch up. Her pace increased as she started to get the timing down. Out of the corner of her eye she watched Nico, emulating the girl’s posture and technique.

Nico was keeping watch on Eli, too. She watched as Eli’s score improved and continued to rise steadily. _She’s definitely got the right idea,_ Nico decided. _Not that it matters. She’s still years behind me. I almost feel bad for beating her so easily._ Nico smirked at the thought. _Like I would ever do that. She’s the one who asked for this, after all._

The song ended moments later, both girls coming to a halt. The scores came up a second later with an A for Nico and a B for Eli. Nico fist pumped the air.

“What’d I tell you? No one can beat the great Nico-Nii! I’m best there is!”

“I’m impressed.” Eli smiled as Nico’s expression froze.

“… are you being sarcastic?” Nico’s eyes were narrowed as she tried to figure out Eli’s intentions. Eli _lost_. Why wasn’t she upset? Was she joking?

“Not at all,” Eli said. “You clearly knew what you were doing. The only reason I scored so well was because I copied your method. It’s much better than what I tried to do at first.”

“Er, well, of course!” Nico tried to cover her stutter by crossing her arms and nodding. “I’ve been practicing for years! Of course I’d know the best technique! You should consider yourself lucky that you have such a great teacher.”

“I do.”

Nico froze again at the sincere statement, and Eli decided to give her a break. For all her arrogance, Nico really wasn’t very good at accepting compliments, was she? It was sort of endearing, now that Eli thought about it.

“Let’s play again.”

“Huh? Again?”

Eli nodded. “Yeah. That was an easy song, right? Now that I’ve got the idea down, I want to try a harder one. I may not be able to beat you today, but I’ll have a shot if I practice.”

“I’d like to see you coming here on your own,” Nico said while scrolling through the song choices again. “You’d probably get distracted by the crane machines and spend three hours staring at them. And we can’t let you do that, right? You have _work_ to do, after all.”

Nico emphasized the word, and Eli rolled her eyes at the mocking tone.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I work too much. You can stop saying it now.”

“Are you kidding me!? The idea of you putting off work to go to an arcade is _hilarious_. No _way_ am I going to stop.”

“Just pick a song already.”

“Wow, someone’s impatient to lose again.” Nico smirked as Eli narrowed her eyes, stepping back onto the center of her pad and starting the song.

They played until they were both out of breath and exhausted. Panting, they collapsed onto the chairs nearby. Nico fanned herself with her hand, grimacing as she felt sweat drip her neck. Eli gave her a tired smile. In the end, her endurance had won out. Her score had increased with each game until she was almost on par with Nico. All it took was a little extra stamina to put her on top.

“It seems you’re not so unbeatable after all,” she said.

“Beginner’s luck.”

Eli gave her an incredulous look. “ _Beginner’s luck?_ We played for an hour! I don’t think you can call me a beginner anymore.”

“I’ll call you whatever you want. Ugh. Why’d we even play for that long? That was almost as bad as a practice session. I’m wiped out.”

“It was a lot of exercise. But it was fun, too. I never thought I’d enjoy something like that.” Eli gave a bright smile. “Thank you for taking me here and teaching me.”

Nico opened and closed her mouth wordlessly, stunned into silence by Eli’s smile. _Why does she have to be so goddamn pretty, it’s so not fair._ She turned away, feeling her cheeks heat up. “It- it was nothing. I was just being a good friend! Yeah, that’s all it was!”

Nico stood up suddenly, her body tense. Eli stared at her in confusion, eyebrows furrowed. _Did I say something strange? Her entire demeanor seems to have changed…_

“…Nico?”

“Were there any other games you wanted to play? You don’t seem like the video game type, and I don’t feel like spending a bunch of money to play the ticket games, but we could see if the air hockey table is open. Or we could leave. I’m sure you had other stuff to do today that I interrupted. It’s up to you.”

Nico said the entire thing in a flat voice, staring straight ahead at the ddr machines. Eli frowned. She stood up and placed a hand on Nico’s shoulder, quickly removing it when the girl flinched.

“Are you okay, Nico? You’re acting strange. Did I say something wrong?”

“No, no, you’re fine.” Nico shook herself and took a deep breath. “So. What do you want to do?”

Nico offered a small smile. Eli wasn’t convinced that everything was okay, but she let it drop. She didn’t know what else to say, anyways.

“Let’s try the air hockey table. We’re here, so we might as well see if we can use it.”

Nico nodded and led the way to the other area of the arcade. The noise returned as they entered the busier section, but Eli didn’t get distracted this time. Her entire attention was focused on Nico, who was still walking a bit stiffly. _What did I say right before she stood up? Something about practice, right? Is she concerned about something going on in Muse? No… that doesn’t seem right._

“Looks like we’re out of luck.”

“Hmm?” Eli looked up and saw the crowd hanging around the air hockey table. “Oh. Well, that’s okay.”

“You sure? I bet a bunch of people here are fans of us, we could probably make them move.”

“I think that’s an abuse of power, Nico.”

“Well, _duh_. What’s the point in being famous if you can’t push people around every so often?”

Eli just shook her head, smiling. “Still. I think we should pass. It looks like it’s snowing outside, so we should probably head home before it gets worse.”

Nico turned and looked out the windows. The snow was falling steadily; big white clumps that stuck to the glass panes and coated the street.

“I guess you’re right. Let’s head out then.”

They maneuvered through the clusters of people and stepped outside into the cold. Nico shivered, zipping her coat all the way up to her neck.

“I hate winter,” she grumbled.

Eli laughed as they started walking. “It’s just a little snow.”

“ ‘Just a little snow’. The problem is that there’s snow in the _first_ place! It’d be so much nicer if it could just be summer all year round. You wouldn’t have to worry about the cold or the snow or coats or any of that stuff. Just shorts and bathing suits!”

“I’ve always found the summers to be a little too hot—“

“You would.”

“—but I understand where you’re coming from,” Eli finished, rolling her eyes. “I enjoy winter, but it’s nice to not have to worry about all the extra layers.”

Nico just grunted in acknowledgement. They walked in a comfortable silence for a while, too tired from their ddr competition to talk and relaxed enough that they didn’t feel the need to. The street corner where they went their separate ways came up faster than they expected, and they lingered at the edge of the road for a few minutes.

“Well,” Eli finally said. “I suppose we should part ways. Thank you again for taking me out.”

“Yeah. No problem. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Mmm.” Eli nodded and crossed the street, lifting a hand in farewell. Nico waved back, watching her go. She dropped her hand after a moment, standing still in the snow. Another beat passed before she turned away and started to head home, trying to ignore how much colder the air felt without Eli next to her.

“Jeez,” she muttered to herself. “Get a hold of yourself, Nico. You only spent a couple hours with her; it’s too early to be this sappy.”

Still, she couldn’t help but smile as she started to think of a place to take Eli to next Saturday.


	2. Amusement Park

Eli was in the middle of work when the doorbell rang. She paused, pencil in the air, glancing at the stack of papers she wanted to get through.  _Maybe, if I don't answer it…_  She held her breath, hoping that whoever it was would leave. A minute passed, and she began to relax, turning her attention back to the worksheet in front of her.  _Alright, so all I need to do is—_

The doorbell rang again, and Eli sighed loudly. Setting the pencil down and stretching, she cast one last longing look at her papers before pushing herself to her feet and heading towards the door.

"Nico?" She was here again?

The girl in question was standing with her arms crossed, an annoyed look on her face.  _I can't believe she made me ring the doorbell twice. Keeping a soon-to-be famous idol waiting; how much more disrespectful can you get?_

"What took you so long? Wait, no, don't answer that. It doesn't actually matter, and I have a more important question: do you like rollercoasters?"

"I… suppose? Why? And what are you doing here?"

Nico rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me we're doing this  _again_. Since you  _suppose –_  what kind of answer is that? – that you like rollercoasters, we're going to the amusement park. Are you ready?"

Eli just sighed. "Give me a moment." There wasn't any point in arguing, was there? Once Nico had decided something, very little could change her mind. Eli headed back to her room to grab her phone and wallet, stopping for a moment at her desk.  _I guess I'll just have to finish it up later_ , she thought as she quickly straightened up the papers.

Nico was waiting for her outside, tapping her foot impatiently. Why couldn't Eli just be ready when she came over? In a few months when it wasn't freezing out it would be fine, but standing outside in the cold wasn't as much fun as it looked. Nico rubbed her arms in an attempt to warm up. At least the park wouldn't be crowded. She was sure there were plenty of people dumb enough to want to go on rollercoasters in the middle of January that it wouldn't be completely empty, but there would be nowhere near the amount of people there were in the summer. Lines in the summer were awful. Nico refused to go near any sort of amusement park when it was warm out. She hated standing around doing nothing.  _Like I'm doing right now_ , she thought, glaring at the closed door. Eli choose that exact moment to walk out, hesitating in the doorway when she saw Nico's expression.

"You're slow," Nico said by way of explaining.

"If you called ahead to let me know you were coming I would have been ready faster," Eli pointed out. She closed the door and they started walking towards the stairs. Nico set a fast pace; they didn't want to miss the train.

"You should always be ready."

"That doesn't seem very realistic. It would be easier for you to just call."

"I don't want to. That would ruin the surprise."

"So I'm supposed to be ready for a surprise? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?"

"Only if you try to ruin it with your logic."

"That doesn't make any sense." Eli sighed, shaking her head. This was going no where. "Why an amusement park, anyways? Isn't this the wrong season for it?"

"It's never the wrong season for rollercoasters. And I picked it because, while I didn't know if you'd like it or not, I figured you've probably at least  _been_  to one before." Nico paused, suddenly looking really worried. "You have been to one, right? I know you hate having fun and all, but please tell you haven't been  _that_  deprived."

"I'm just going to ignore that last bit. And yes, I've been to amusement parks before. Arisa and I try to go every year or so; she's really fond of them."

Nico nodded. "Smart kid. Rollercoasters are the best."

"Do you take your siblings to amusement parks?"

"Nope. Maybe in a few years, but they're too short to go on most of the rides. I usually take them to a zoo if we want to go somewhere big. They love petting all the little goats." Nico had a fond smile on her face as she spoke, and her voice turned gentle. Eli watched her as she told a story from their last trip to the zoo.  _She really loves her siblings, doesn't she? She's like a completely different person, talking about them. Though I suppose I'm not surprised; I'm sure I'm the same way about Arisa._

The two of them exchanged stories as they boarded the train. Nico told of all the antics her siblings got into, and Eli gave amusing stories from when she and Arisa had first moved to Japan and were still adjusting to the different culture. The train ride was over quickly, and they walked the short distance to the amusement park entrance.

"It looks pretty empty," Eli said as they passed through the gates.

"Yeah. That's good; no lines for us."

"Mm. It's still pretty early though. I wonder if more people will show up."

"I guess they might. But that means that we should go on the good rides while we can! I'll be generous and let you pick first." Nico pulled out the map and spread it open. She hadn't been here in a while, so she didn't remember where most of the rides were. "Which one do you want to go on?"

Eli peered over her shoulder, looking at all of the different options. "Let's go on the teacups," she decided.

Nico gave her an incredulous look. "The  _teacups_? Why the teacups? We came to this big amusement park filled with rollercoasters and you picked the  _teacups?_ "

Eli crossed her arms defensively. "What's wrong with the teacups?"

"They're lame! The teacups are, like, little kid rides!"

"Fine, then. We don't have to go on them if you don't want to. Let me see the map again."

Eli reached out for the map, but Nico quickly pulled it away.

"What? No! We're going to go on your dumb teacups. I said I was going to be generous, right? I never go back on my word!" She started to head towards the ride, with Eli matching her pace.

"You don't sound very happy about it, though."

"I said you could pick the first ride. I didn't say I wasn't going to make fun of you for it. Because seriously, the teacups?"

Eli rolled her eyes. "They're fun. It's not my problem if you can't enjoy them."

"That depends. How fast do you spin the cup? You better spin them fast; that's the only way it's an acceptable ride. You come to amusement parks for the thrill, not to turn slowly in a circle."

"If you're done complaining, we can get on the ride."

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Nico hadn't even noticed that they had arrived, but now that she had looked up she saw that there was barely a line. They were on the ride a moment later, taking a seat in one of the pink cups. Nico stretched, a wide grin growing on her face before she gripped the wheel tightly with both hands. Eli sat back, an amused smile on her lips.

"Alright! Time to start this thing spinning. Let's see just how fast it can go!" Nico turned the wheel as hard as she could, setting the teacup in motion as the entire ride started moving, an upbeat tune playing over the speakers. Eli leaned in after a moment, helping Nico spin the wheel. She kept her eyes fixed on the other girl, paying no attention to the blur of colors in the background. The wind rushed past her, whipping her hair around, and she reveled in the feeling of near dizziness the ride induced.

The ride came to a stop after a few minutes and they let go of the wheel, the teacup slowly spinning to a halt. They sat still for a moment, breathing heavily, their faces flushed from the exertion. Eli was the first stand.

"See? It wasn't that bad."

"I never said it was going to  _bad_ , only that— woah!" Nico wobbled as she tried to stand up, her face paling as the world spun around her. Her arms flailed about as she attempted to regain her balance. Eli laughed, grabbing Nico before she fell over.

"Dizzy?"

Nico just groaned as she stumbled off the ride, plopping down onto the nearest bench and covering her face with her hands.

"Why did I do that. Why did I have to go on that ride with you. That was an awful idea. Absolutely awful. You're supposed to be the responsible one, why the hell didn't you stop me? Ugh. I'm gonna throw up."

Eli just watched as Nico continued to mutter to herself. It was hard to tell how sick she was, but Eli was fairly certain that most of it was just dramatics. Nico was fond of doing that. All she needed to do was wait it out. A few more minutes passed; Eli occupied herself by watching the people walking by. It was mostly groups of kids, with a couple parents and their younger kids mixed in. Everyone seemed excited, talking rapidly and waving their hands around as they waited on line for rides.

"… I can't believe this. Out of all the rides in the park, it was the worst one that made me feel awful. Why'd I listen to you? And- wait." Nico suddenly looked up and glared at Eli, who looked completely unaffected. "Why are  _you_  not dizzy? I'm about to die over here, and you look like you just took a stroll through a park! How is  _that_  fair!"

"I'm used to spinning," Eli replied simply.

" _Used_  to spinning? What the hell does that mean?"

"It means," Eli sighed, in both exasperation and amusement, "that I know how to avoid getting dizzy. You were looking all over the place while we were spinning; I focused on one spot and ignored everything moving around us. That's usually enough to prevent you from getting nauseous."

"… and why didn't you tell me about that  _before_  we got on the ride?"

"You seemed to be having fun complaining. I didn't want to interrupt you."

Nico narrowed her eyes. "So that's how it is, huh?"

"What?"

"In that case," Nico said, pushing herself to her feet and trying not to fall over, "let's see how you handle this next ride."

Nico scanned the map quickly before nodding to herself.  _That's the perfect one. No way will Eli survive it so easily._ She motioned to Eli to stand up, trying to hide her grin as they started walking.

"… should I be worried?"

"Not at all!"

"I don't think I believe you."

Nico's grin grew wider as they got in line for the ride, and wider still when she saw Eli's expression when she looked at the rollercoaster. It was one of the bigger ones, with multiple loops and long portions where the riders were sideways. There was even one section where they went underground. Nico cackled internally. This was going to be great. Definitely worth getting dizzy for.

"I thought most people started with the easier rides first and worked their way up to ones like these," Eli said, staring at the ride.  _Why would they make you go underground? How is that supposed to be fun?_

"Oh? Did I finally find something you're scared of? Wait 'till everyone else hears about this. Who would have thought that the 'cute and clever Elichka' would be scared of a little rollercoaster?"

Eli tore her eyes away from the ride and glared at Nico. "I never said I was scared. I've been on plenty of roller coasters before and survived them just fine. This one's just… a little more extreme than the ones I usually pick, that's all."

"Good. You need some more excitement in your life."

They reached the front of the line and boarded the ride. Nico picked the back row of seats, Eli sitting down next to her. They both held onto the metal bar in front of them: Nico's grip was light as she waited impatiently for the ride to start, while Eli's was much tighter.

"Don't worry," Nico said as they started moving, "if you get scared, just hold on to me. The amazing Nico-Nii will protect you!"

"I think I'll be fine."

Nico faked a pout at Eli's unamused response, but quickly forgot to keep it up as they headed towards the first drop of the ride. She would never admit it, but this rollercoaster was a bit more intense than what she usually went on, too. The loops and turns were fine, but she hated being so high up in the air. The park seemed tiny below her. People were just small dots scurrying about. Nico gulped, tightening her hold on the bar.  _Keep calm, Nico. It's just a ride. It'll be fun! You love rollercoasters, remember? Just… smaller ones. No! Stay focused. You just have to fare better than Eli. That won't be too hard, right?_ Nico glanced over at the girl in question.

"You ready?" Nico prided herself over the fact that her voice didn't shake.

Eli gave her a nervous smile as the ride paused at the top of the arc. "Let's hope so."

They tipped over the edge, and any words Nico might have responded with were ripped out of her mouth as she screamed. Adrenaline rushed through her body as the ride twisted and turned. The wind pushed her hair back, her eyes tearing up at the rush of air. There was a split second of stillness at the top of the first loop, and Nico could hear her heart beat loudly before they went down the other side and were whipped around to the next one. After the initial drop, Nico found herself enjoying the ride, leaning into the turns and yelling in excitement.  _This_  was the kind of thrill she loved. This heart-stopping, near-terrifying thrill.

They completed the last loop and dove underground. In those few seconds of pitch blackness, Nico felt Eli's hand suddenly grip hers with a painful force. Then they were out, leaving Nico to blink rapidly at the return of the bright sky. The ride came to a stop a moment later, and Nico sat still in the cart for a moment, her heart pounding. She gave Eli a big grin.

"That was  _amazing._ "

"If… you say so."

Eli looked a little pale as they stepped off the ride. She didn't seem to realize that she was still holding on to Nico's wrist, but Nico decided not to mention it. She led Eli to a nearby bench and collapsed onto it, laughing breathlessly as her body began to calm down. Eli leaned back, finally letting go of Nico as she tried to slow her breathing.

"I think… I'm going to stick with the smaller rides."

"What? Too intense for you? I can't believe you actually grabbed on to me; I didn't think you'd be  _that_  scared."

"It was just the underground part," Eli muttered. "The loops were fine."

"What's so scary about going underground? It gets dark for a few seconds, and that's all. But if that's case, the other rollercoasters should be no problem. That's the only one that goes underground, as far as I know.  _Or_  we could go on that one again. Gotta conquer your fears and all, right?"

"Let's not. Besides, isn't it my turn to choose? We passed an interesting looking one earlier."

"Lead the way, then."

Eli paused. "… can we wait another moment? My heart's still pounding."

Nico nodded, also grateful for the rest. The rollercoaster had taken more out of her than she had expected. They sat on the bench for a few more minutes before heading to the ride. The next few hours passed in a blur of heart-wrenching turns and dizzying loops. They stopped picking specific rides after a while, instead just aiming to go on as many as they could. The lines grew longer as the day went on, but the park stayed fairly empty over all.

"Okay, I think that might be my favorite one," Nico said as they stumbled off another ride.

Eli laughed. "That's the third time you've said that."

"I can't help that! They're all my favorite until we find a better one. But that one was so great! We were upside down almost all the time, and there were tons of loops and twists! It was exciting! Why, is your favorite still the teacups?"

Eli nodded as they went to stand in line for the nearest ride. "Of course."

" 'Of course'," Nico mocked. "You're just saying that because you're too stubborn to admit that you're wrong."

"Maybe  _you're_  the one that's too stubborn."

"What? How am  _I_  being stubborn?"

"You just don't want to admit that the teacups aren't as lame as you thought you were."

"Yeah, like  _that's_  it. The teacups are lame as hell, and you'll never hear me say otherwise."

"I still think—wait."

"Huh?"

Eli looked up at the ride in front of them, her eyes growing wide. Nico followed her gaze, paling when she realized what line they had gotten on. Neither of them had paid attention to what ride they were waiting for; it was already starting to get dark and the park would be closing soon, so they just picked the shortest line they saw. They were already near the front, and would probably be on the next batch of riders.

"… did you pick this ride?"

Nico shook her head slowly. Her voice shook when she spoke. "No. I was just following you."

The gates opened and they walked forward automatically with the rest of the people in line, taking their seats and staring above them at the ride.

"I think we've made a mistake," Eli whispered, horrified, as they were strapped in. They had talked about it earlier: they'd try any ride in the park except for this one. Even Nico was too nervous to go on it, despite how she tried to hide it.

"You  _think_? Ugh, why did I follow you! I can't do this. I'm too young and way too pretty to die."

They felt a vibration at their backs as the ride turned on. It pulled them upwards, their feet dangling uselessly in the air. They rose slowly, their hearts beating faster and faster as the park shrank below them. The ride stopped at over 100 feet in the air and hung there for what felt like hours. There was nothing around them but empty air.

"I'm going to throw up," Nico muttered. "I'm  _definitely_  going to throw up. Oh god, why did we do this."

Eli could barely hear her over the pounding in her ears. Her arms were shaking as she held on to the harness as tightly as she could.  _Just don't look down. Everything will be fine if I don't look down. Everything will be—_

The ride dropped.

Nico and Eli instinctively grabbed each other's hands as their screams joined with the rest of those on ride. Neither of them could think straight; everything was a blur of fear and wind. Their hearts beat wildly in their chests.

The ride jolted as it pulled them upwards again before falling back towards the ground. They bounced a few more times before being gently lowered to a stop. They stumbled off the ride in a daze, holding on to each other in an attempt to stay upright. Both of them were pale-faced and shaking; they didn't even make it to a bench before collapsing. They slumped against a nearby fence and sat in silence as they tried to regain their senses.

"I take it back," Nico finally said, her eyes still unfocused. "I love the teacups. They're my absolute favorite ride. I will stay on them forever if it means I never have to go on that monster again."

"I'm… glad you realized that." Eli didn't have the energy to feel any sort of victory; she was barely able to make coherent sentences.

They sat in a haze for a while longer, only moving when the bell rang to signal the closing of the park. They walked back to the train station on shaky legs. It was only once the train started moving that Eli realized she was still holding Nico's hand. She let go of it and looked out the window, trying to hide her faint blush.

"…. sorry," she murmured.

"… it's okay."

They avoided looking at each other for the rest of ride, walking in silence to the street corner where they parted ways.

"So," Nico said, deciding to break the awkward atmosphere, "arcade or amusement park? Which was better?"

Eli tilted her head in thought. "Well, they were both fun, but if I had to pick… probably the arcade."

"Yeah, I think I'd go with that too. At least the arcade didn't try to kill us."

Eli nodded in agreement, still feeling a little queasy at the memory of the last ride. "We survived though. And the other rides were fun."

"Most of them."

"Only most?"

"Alright, fine. I guess the teacups were  _okay_."

"You're just not going to let that go, are you?"

"Nope." Nico grinned at Eli's sigh. "Anyways, I should get going. See you at school."

"Mm. See you."

They parted ways, and Eli walked quickly back to her house. The sun had set a while ago, and it was starting to get really dark. The clouds that had gathered during the day didn't help. She reached her apartment soon enough, stepping inside and calling to Arisa to let her know she was back. Eli paused the moment she entered her room. The pile of papers was still sitting on her desk, waiting to be worked on. She groaned, flopping down on her bed instead.

_I'll just… finish them tomorrow. That will be fine, won't it?_


	3. Bowling

When the doorbell rang early in the afternoon, Eli was ready. She was already shrugging on her coat when she opened the door, greeting Nico with a smile and a nod. The other girl looked surprised for a moment, but she quickly adjusted and they started walking.

 _Looks like she’s learning._ “You all set?”

“Yep. What’s the plan for today?”

“I thought we’d go to a bowling alley. Does that work for you?”

“Bowling sounds fun. I didn’t know there was a bowling alley in the area, though.”

“It’s kinda near that idol shop we went to once.”

“Oh, really? I must have missed it.”

“I’m not surprised. We got distracted chasing Kotori, after all. There wasn’t much time to look around.”

“That’s true…” That had certainly been an interesting day. Eli had never thought that Kotori would be hiding something like that, but she also hadn’t known the younger girl very well at that point. She still didn’t, really. _I wonder if I should talk to her more? Although I don’t know when I would have the chance, since she has to spend a lot of time sewing the outfits for our live performances. “_ Speaking of Kotori, weren’t you supposed to help her with the costumes this weekend?”

“Yeah. I’m meeting up with her tomorrow, actually. She said they’re almost done, so it shouldn’t take too long.”

“That’s good to hear. What do they look like? I don’t think I ever saw the designs.”

“Well…” Nico described the outfits, interspersing the details with her own opinions. She had a lot of commentary on them, though Eli wasn’t surprised. Nico had a lot of commentary about everything. She seemed to like the designs, for the most part. She had a few small issues with the placement of bows and the shape of the dresses, but it mostly boiled down to her outfit not making her look cute enough.

“Seriously! No matter how many times I tell this girl, she just doesn’t get it. The main part of Super Idol Nico-Nii’s charm is her cuteness! How am I supposed to keep all of my fans if Kotori refuses to make my outfits cute enough?”

“Maybe she thinks you’re cute enough already,” Eli said absentmindedly. A moment passed before she froze in horror, her face turning red as she realized what she had just said. “I— I mean—“

“Yeah? You mean that that’s what _you_ think?”

The tips of Eli’s ears turned pink, and Nico would have laughed if she wasn’t fighting off her own blush.

“Well, at least you don’t have to worry,” Nico continued when it looked like Eli wasn’t going to respond, careful to keep her voice steady and flat. “You look great in everything. I finished your outfit a couple days ago; you’ll have a million more admirers to add to your collection by the end of the show, for sure.”

“Tha- that’s not true.”

“What’s not true about it? No matter what you say, you’ll always be ridiculously hot. Might as well admit it already.”

Eli just made an unintelligible noise as she started walking again, her head down as she tried to overcome her embarrassment. They reached Akihabara soon after, and Nico led the way to the idol shop.

“I want to stop in here for a moment and check something. Do you mind?”

“Not really. What did you want to see?”

“What merch they have of me, of course! I haven’t stopped by in nearly a month, so I bet they have a lot of new stuff by now.”

Nico headed straight towards the Muse section of the store, clearly knowing her way around. Eli trailed after her, looking at the photos lining the walls. She knew about A-RISE, of course, and she recognized a few people from the posters in the club room, but for the most part she had no clue who any of the idols were. Nico probably knew, she figured, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to start that conversation right now.

It was odd seeing herself on the wall, though. And the fact that people bought those things, that people she would never meet had pictures or figures of her? Eli found the whole idea a little strange. But the other girls seemed to enjoy it, so she didn’t complain. Nico especially loved everything about it. She turned to Eli with a bright smile on her face, holding something out in her hands.

“I knew it was a good idea to stop here. Look at this!”

It was a keychain: more specifically, a keychain of Nico herself in the panda outfit she had worn for a recent photo shoot.

“I guess it’s nice?”

“What, that’s it? It’s more than nice, it’s great! This was one of my cutest outfits! Hold on a moment, I’m going to go pay for it.”

“Isn’t it weird to buy a keychain of yourself though? The cashier will definitely recognize you.”

Nico rolled her eyes. “Duh, of course it’s weird. That’s why I’ll wear a disguise! Good thing I always come prepared for these type of situations.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of large sunglasses and a surgical mask. After putting them on, she untied her hair and stuffed the ribbons in her pocket.

“All good! No one will recognize me now.”

Eli just watched as Nico bounced over to the counter. “I think that might be weirder,” she murmured to herself. Nico returned a moment later, removing her disguise and tucking the keychain in her bag so she didn’t lose it.

“You going to get anything?”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“Suit yourself.” Nico shrugged, making her way out of the store. “The bowling alley is just a few blocks away.”

 _It really is easy to miss_ , Eli thought as they entered the building. _I would never have noticed it on my own._ The bowling alley was all underground; the door was part of another building, with stairs leading down to the actual bowling area. The only sign was a small drawing of two pins falling over, painted right above the door.

It was an interesting looking place. The carpet was patterned with random, colorful shapes, and odd, swirling designs covered the walls. Nico and Eli grabbed bowling shoes and headed towards the far lane.

“Alright,” Nico said as she finished tying her laces. “You can enter our names into the computer, and I’ll go grab us some balls from the rack. Any preference?”

“Any ball will do. It doesn’t matter too much, does it?”

“Of course it does! You can be a great bowler, but it won’t do you any good if you get the wrong ball. Don’t worry, I’ll find you a good one.”

She came back with a light blue ball for Eli and a pink one for herself.

“You’re up first,” Eli said as she took the ball, standing up to watch Nico’s roll. Nico spun the ball around in her hands as she looked at the pins, trying to decide how to line up her shot. She came to a decision quickly, getting into position and flashing Eli a smile.

“Prepare to be amazed, Eli!”

Nico’s first ball went straight into the gutter.

“Th-that was just a warm up shot. Just a fluke! It means nothing!” She kept her head down as she went to retrieve her ball, refusing to look at Eli. _At least she’s too nice to laugh._ Eli simply smiled at Nico’s actions, giving a nod of encouragement when Nico’s second attempt only knocked down five pins.

“There! See, much better! If that had been the first shot, I’d be looking at a spare right now. Nothing to worry about. In fact, I’ll let you in on a secret! That first roll? It was all on purpose! I don’t want to start off too strong and make you nervous, after all.” Even Nico could tell how awful of a lie that was. She quickly changed the subject: “So! Let’s see how well you can do.”

Eli’s first ball was a strike. Nico stared at the fallen pins, her mouth hanging open.

“How—how did you—“

She didn’t get a response: Eli was just as surprised as she was, blinking in shock as she tried to figure out what just happened.

“I guess… it’s your turn now?” she finally said when the pins were reset.

Nico shook herself out of her daze and took her position at the end of the lane. “Okay, I’ll admit that was impressive. But don’t expect to get so lucky next time! I’m not going to let you win so easily.”

 _Time to step up my game. So what if she got a strike on the first round? Nothing I can’t beat!_ Nico grinned as she lined up her shot. She knew it was a good roll the moment she let go of the ball; six pins down and another three on her second roll put her at 14 points. A slow start, especially since Eli’s strike gave her bonus points, but Nico was confident she could win it back.

 _Confidence means nothing,_ Nico decided twenty minutes later as she looked up at the score board. She frowned as she read the point totals, leaning back in her chair with her arms crossed. Eli had ended up with two strikes and two spares, putting her at 111, while Nico’s single spare gave her a total of 79.

“At least I didn’t get another gutterball,” she grumbled to herself. She sighed, closing her eyes and tapping her foot impatiently. “What’s taking Eli so long anyways?”

There was a vending machine near the entrance of the bowling alley; Eli had gone over there to get drinks after their game ended. She looked over the items for a moment before deciding to stick with water; it was surprisingly hot in the building, and the water would be refreshing. Drinks in hand, she walked slowly back towards her lane, observing the other games she passed. There weren’t a lot of people playing today; only about half of the lanes were being used, and a few groups seemed close to leaving. The emptiness made for an almost peaceful atmosphere. There were some quiet conversations going on, but for the most part the only noise was the rolling of the balls and the clack of the pins as they toppled over, with an occasional cheer mixed in.

 _Who would have thought that bowling would be relaxing?_ Eli mused as she walked. _Even the little kids aren’t being rowdy. It’s rather nice._

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she caught sight of Nico, pausing a few feet away from the lane to watch the other girl. Nico was slumped in a chair, looking blankly up at the flashing scoreboard with a frown on her face.

 _She looks disappointed… is she upset that she lost?_ Eli wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case; Nico had a lot of pride, and losing after boasting so much earlier would definitely damage that. _She’s usually more energetic though, even when she loses._ Eli spent another moment thinking before heading over to Nico and handing her a water bottle. _Well, if she wins the next game, that should cheer her up._

“Are you ready to play again?

“Huh?” Nico blinked up at Eli. “Oh, yeah. You can go first this time.”

Eli nodded, heading over to the ball rack. Nico took a few gulps of water before joining her, grabbing her own ball in preparation for her turn.

“Think you can start off with another strike?”

“Hmm. I don’t think I’ll be so lucky this time.” Eli smiled as she said that, but it looked odd to Nico. She narrowed her eyes, watching the other girl line up her shot. Something was definitely off. Her suspicions were confirmed when Eli’s two rolls only knocked down five pins. _What is she doing?_

Nico figured it out by the third round. _You’ve got to be kidding me. You have_ got _to be kidding me._ It took all of Nico’s self-control to keep a straight face as she stepped up for her turn, channeling all of her anger into rolling the ball. _I swear to god, if she’s doing what I think she’s doing…_

Eli’s next roll knocked down eight pins. She frowned in annoyance. Nico waited. This was an easy shot—she would have no problems getting a spare herself, so neither should Eli. Just keep the ball on the left… and it went straight into the gutter.

“Woops.” Eli gave a sheepish grin, and Nico felt her eye twitch. Gritting her teeth to keep from yelling, she moved to the front of the lane and rolled, faking a smile when she managed to get a spare.

_Seriously! That spare put me in the lead, and I can’t even be happy about it!_

The game went quickly, Eli sighing in relief as Nico’s final roll sealed her victory. Maybe that would cheer her up. Although Eli had done better than she meant to; it was harder than she expected to do badly, but still well enough to make sure Nico didn’t catch her. _It looks like I succeeded, though,_ she thought as she sat down, smiling at Nico who was staring up at the scoreboard.

 _I’m going to strangle her,_ Nico decided as she took a deep breath, knowing that Eli was waiting for the usual ‘I’m number one’ speech.

“See?” she started, congratulating herself on not letting her anger show in her voice, “I told you that first game was a fluke! Did you really think that the great Nico-Nii would be bad at bowling? An idol has to have many skills, after all! It’s only natural that I win!” She dropped her smile before finishing: “At least, that’s what you expect me to say, right?”

“Huh?” Eli froze as Nico turned to her with a suddenly serious expression, giving her an angry glare.

“I’m not a little kid, you know. Yeah, I don’t like losing, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to go home and cry about it or anything. You don’t need to fake doing badly just so I can win. _Especially_ when you do it so obviously. You’re really, really bad at subtlety. I don’t know if you’re aware of that, but it’s true. It’s almost embarrassing to watch you try. So don’t bother. You are somehow magically perfect at bowling – and really, why am I even surprised – and I’m not. That’s fine. It’s just a game, and I can handle losing. So don’t rub it in my face by doing something dumb like purposely losing. When I win, it’s going to be all me. You got it?”

Eli blinked in surprise for a moment before giving an apologetic smile. _I guess I was found out_. _She has a good point though- I should have more faith in her._ “Yes. You’re right. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”

Nico sat down in the chair across from Eli. Her arms were still crossed in annoyance, but she didn’t seem to be as mad anymore. “Why’d you even do that, anyways? You can be just as competitive as I am; I would have thought you’d want to win.”

“Mmm.” Eli leaned back as she thought, trying to figure out how to explain herself without offending Nico further. “It’s not that I didn’t want to… I suppose I just thought that you’d want to win more. You seemed disappointed after the first round. Usually, when you don’t do well at something, you get frustrated and that makes you work harder. So when you didn’t, I got a bit worried, I guess. I thought that maybe it would cheer you up if you won the next round, so I tried to do poorly.”

“That’s it? You thought that watching you lose would make me happier?”

“I’ll admit, it does sound a bit silly saying it out loud.”

“Good. It should sound dumb. And anyways…”

“…yes?”

“Anyways nothing. Never mind.” _I can’t tell her that seeing her get excited over winning is enough to make happy. No way in hell could I say that! How much more embarrassing could you get?_

“Alright. If you’re sure.”

“Of course I’m sure! Why would I lie about something like that? Come on, we have time for a few more rounds.” Nico pushed herself out of her chair and headed to the ball rack, picking up her pink ball before turning back to Eli with an expectant look.

“Okay.” Eli joined Nico at the rack, finding her blue ball quickly and giving the other girl a smile. “And I won’t hold back this time.”

“You better not,” Nico warned. “Actually, you know what? If you want to lose so badly, why don’t you just teach me?”

“Teach you?”

“Yeah. You can’t do worse without making a fool of yourself, so just show me how to do better.”

“Ah, well… that’s a good idea, but I don’t actually know what to tell you.”

Nico’s eyes narrowed. “… and what does that mean?”

“… it means that my skill is mostly just pure luck?” Eli gave a sheepish smile. “I have no idea why I’m doing so well, so I can’t give you any tips.”

“I hate you.”

“Sorry.”

“Hmph.” Nico shook her head as she walked over to the bowling lane. “Well, that doesn’t matter. You can’t win off of luck forever. Time to show you what the great Nico-Nii can do!”

Whether it was through sheer determination or actual skill, Nico’s score was much closer to Eli’s at the end of their third game. She got both a strike and spare, though Eli’s three spares still put her on top. Nico managed to win the fourth game – Eli smiled as Nico gave a genuine version of her speech from before – but lost the last one. Not that she minded, of course. It wasn’t like she was a sore loser or anything. She made a mental note to look up bowling tips when she got home.

But putting aside her frustration at Eli’s constant perfection at everything, Nico decided that maybe it was okay that she lost. Seeing Eli’s eyes light up from excitement when she got a strike just about made up for it. She was still going to crush the other girl the next time they played, though.


	4. Cooking

It was 1 o’clock and Eli was sitting idly in bed, waiting for the doorbell to ring. There was no point in starting work; Nico had interrupted her every time she had tried. So she waited, trying to guess where Nico would take her today.

It was 2 o’clock, and Eli was feeling restless. Nico was usually here by now. The sun would be setting in a few hours, so if they had to walk somewhere it was better to leave earlier not get caught in the dark. Maybe they weren’t going far?

It was 3 o’clock, and Eli reminded herself that Nico had never said that she was coming over. Yes, she had stopped by the past three Saturdays, but that didn’t mean she would come _every_ Saturday. Maybe she had work, or other plans, or was sick. Or maybe she just didn’t want to come over today. There was no reason she had to, of course. _Really,_ Eli scolded herself, _I shouldn’t be expecting her to come._

It was 4 o’clock, and Eli decided that she might as well get some work done. She’d already wasted half the day, so she had to make up for it. She tried to ignore the disappointment that filled her when she sat down at her desk and opened her notebook.

It was 6 o’clock when Eli gave up on the pretense of doing work. No matter how much she tried, she just couldn’t focus. She had gotten embarrassingly little done.

“This is useless,” she muttered to herself, pushing away from the desk and getting to her feet. “Maybe I’ll be able to concentrate after I eat something.” Arisa was staying over at Yukiho’s for the night, so Eli was on her own for dinner. She rummaged through the cupboards, but nothing was appealing. Those chocolates she had started making last night would only take a few minutes to finish… No. She shook her head and pulled out a pot. Desert was desert, and she would force herself to find something for dinner.

The doorbell rang as Eli was filling the pot with water. She jumped, then shoved the pot aside and rushed to the door, trying to push down the hope rising within her. There was no point in getting excited. But she couldn’t help the relieved smile that formed when she saw Nico standing outside.

“I was wondering if you were going to come today.”

“Wow, you actually missed me, huh? Not that I’m surprised. I’d miss me too, if I was gone. Anyways,” Nico held up a plastic bag and grinned, “How does homemade curry sound?”

“Wonderful.” Eli would be embarrassed at how happy seeing the other girl made her, but she couldn’t get rid of the warmth that filled her long enough to do so. She ushered Nico inside and lead her into the kitchen. “Did you bring all of the ingredients you need?”

“Yeah.” Nico set the bag on the counter and started pulling out potatoes and carrots. “I stopped at the store on my way here. Oh, and I bought enough for your sister, too, if she wants some.”

Eli looked at Nico in surprise. She hadn’t expected her to consider Arisa; it was very thoughtful of her. “Arisa’s out tonight, so it’s just the two of us. Thank you, though.”

“What are you thanking me for? I didn’t do anything special.”

Eli just smiled. “What can I do to help?”

Nico paused, looking over all the ingredients she had brought. “How good are you at cooking? You ever make curry before?”

“No. But I think I’m pretty good at making other things.”

“Hmm. Yeah, no, I don’t trust that.”

Eli frowned, wondering if she should be insulted. Nico pushed a couple onions, carrots, and potatoes over to her, nodding at them.

“You can cut those up. I’ll prep the meat. Can I use this pot you left on the counter?”

“You can use it. Anything else you need?” Eli pulled out a knife and cutting board, grabbing an onion and peeling it. Nico shook her head, dumping the water out of the pot and setting it on the stove. She washed her hands and tied a frilly pink apron around her waist, then started on the meat. She paused, glancing over at Eli when she saw the other girl’s small smile.

“What?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re looking at me funny.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Eli replied smoothly, her smile growing wider. Nico narrowed her eyes. “Don’t you have meat to cut?”

“Hmph.” Nico turned back to her task, and they worked in silence for a few minutes. The only sound was the thud of the knives hitting the cutting boards and Eli’s soft, mindless humming. Nico finished the meat and put it in the pot along with a little bit of oil, turning the stove on before grabbing a couple of Eli’s carrots. They took the meat out after it browned and fried the onions before putting it back in with the carrots and potatoes. Water was added and boiled, the pot covered and the timer set. An awkward silence fell, now that they had nothing to do but wait.

 “Is there anything else we have to do?” Eli asked after a moment.

“Nah. I’ll do the spices after the meat’s done, so we’re good. Wait, no, we should make the rice now. It’ll taste better if we soak it first, so that will take some time. Where’s your rice cooker?”

“I don’t have one.”

“ _What?”_ Nico spun around to face Eli, her eyes wide and her mouth dropping open. “What kind of person doesn’t have a rice cooker! That’s, like, a standard thing!”

“Well…” Eli shifted uncomfortably. Were rice cookers really that common? “I don’t really make rice that often. And they aren’t very popular in Russia, so… I just never bought one?”

“Ughhhhhh.” Nico groaned loudly, covering her face in her hands. “I can’t believe this. You _useless_ Russians.”

“Um.”

“It’ll take forever to make good rice without a rice cooker! We’ll have to go buy _premade_ rice from the _store_. This sucks. _You_ suck.”

Eli couldn’t tell whether Nico was disgusted with her or the idea of buying rice. Probably both. She sighed. “I’ll go pick some up. It won’t take too long, maybe fifteen minutes. What kind should I get?”

“How should I know? I’ve never _bought_ rice before. Just… get something that’s not terrible, I guess? Something fast, since we’ll only have like half an hour after you get back before the curry’s done.”

“Alright. I’ll see what they have. I’ll be back in a bit.”

Eli left, and in the sudden silence that fell after her departure, Nico became acutely aware that she was now alone in Eli’s apartment. This was weird. Should it be weird? It felt weird. This was the first time Nico had been inside Eli’s house, inside _any_ friend’s house, and now she was the only one there. What was she supposed to do? Nico fidgeted, looking around the kitchen for something to work on.

The meat was done, for now. Nothing to do there. The spices weren’t needed until later… Nico spied her bag sitting on the counter and paused. Actually… She smiled. Now that she thought about, this was the perfect opportunity to go exploring. She grabbed her bag and left the kitchen, whistling loudly.

 _Time to see what prim, proper, and perfect – wait, no, scratch that – Ayase Eli’s room looks like._ Nico smirked. _I bet she’s the type of person who has a really messy room. Yeah, she seems all organized and stuff on the outside, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was just an act. Gotta be ‘cool and cute’ for her fans, after all._

There were multiple doors in the hallway. Nico had no idea which one led to Eli’s room, so she started with the closest one. She cracked the door open and peered inside, then remembered that she was alone in the apartment and swung the door open all the way, stepping into the room. The walls were a light blue, which meant it had to be Eli’s, right?

 _Well, duh. Of course I’d pick right on my first try. Famous idols don’t need second guesses!_ It was a kind of disappointing room, though. Nico stood in the middle, turning slowly as she took everything in. There were a couple shelves filled with books, a closet, and a neat, organized desk. The only things of any interest were the tall, potted plant in the corner and the school bag thrown haphazardly onto the bed.

“Talk about boring. There aren’t even any pictures on the walls. Although the stuffed bear on the desk is kind of odd. Wouldn’t it be better to keep that on a bed?” Nico frowned and walked over to desk, glancing at the textbooks sitting on top of it. One of the titles caught her eye, and she paused. _Wait, algebra? We haven’t done algebra since…_ Nico sighed, her shoulders slumping. _Since middle school. This is her sister’s room, isn’t it?_

Well, that wasn’t a bad thing. Maybe Eli’s real room would be more exciting. Nico left Arisa’s room, shutting the door behind her. She’d have to make this quick. There was no telling when Eli was going to get back, and Nico didn’t want to get caught snooping around.

The next room was empty aside from a bed and a dresser. For guests, maybe? Made enough sense. Nico headed for the third door. That meant that the last room was Eli’s, for sure. She pushed the door open and walked inside. Nico barely registered the pale yellow of the walls, too distracted by the contents of the room.

“ _Wow._ That is _a lot_ of books.” Nico stared at the numerous shelves, each filled completely. There were books on the desk, next to the desk, and lining almost an entire wall. Nico had a feeling that if she opened the closet she would find even more. Seriously, who needed _that many_ books?

 _At least they aren’t all textbooks_ , Nico thought as she scanned the titles. Some were, yeah, but there were a fair amount of novels mixed in too. There were three shelves filled with books covered in some scribbly writing that looked almost like English – Russian, probably. Nico wondered vaguely what Russian sounded like. Eli said ‘harasho’ every so often, of course, but who even knew what that meant. Maybe she should ask sometime.

The next thing that caught Nico’s attention were the pictures. Four framed pictures of flowers were hanging above the desk – which was odd, but there did seem to be a slight flower theme going on in the room, what with the couple plants, the pictures, and the floral design of the rug – but Nico focused more on the few standing on the bookshelf next to the desk.

They were pictures of ballerinas. One of them was in black and white; the woman was posing, balanced on her toes with her arms raised elegantly above her head. Eli’s grandmother? There was certainly a strong resemblance between them. The next picture showed two people. The man was holding the woman gently, hands tenderly cupping her waist. The woman had a joyful smile on her face, the happiness in her blue eyes so strong that even the photograph was able to capture the way they shone. Eli’s mother and father, Nico figured. She didn’t know much about them; Eli had never mentioned them, and it didn’t look like they lived here. She didn’t think they were dead though. That’s something that would have come up during some conversation or another, right? Maybe they were still in Russia.

The last two pictures were of Eli herself. Nico smiled fondly as she looked at them. _She was a cute kid, wasn’t she?_ The first must have been taken when Eli was really young. She was standing in what looked like a practice room, staring at something off camera. It didn’t seem like she knew she was being photographed. But that made the picture seem more real. Even though she was young, Nico could easily see the determination in her eyes as she practiced. Her form wasn’t perfect, but it was clear that that would change soon. And the second picture showed it.

Eli was older in that picture, though still fairly young. About ten years old, Nico guessed. It was taken during the middle of a performance. Eli was wearing an aqua tutu, her hair tied up in a neat bun. It was a nice look, but what really stood out was her expression. Her eyes were shining brightly, a huge smile on her face. Nico wasn’t sure if she had ever seen Eli look so happy before.  She enjoyed performing with Muse, of course, and she was always smiling then, but this? This was a look of pure joy. _Did she really love ballet so much?_

Not that Nico didn’t understand. It was the same sort of passion she had for idols. _But passion isn’t enough, is it?_ She frowned. It was clear how much Eli loved ballet, and yet she had still failed the auditions. It must have been a terribly hard blow.  She sighed. No point in thinking about. There was nothing she could do about it, and that wasn’t what she’d come into the room for in the first place.

Nico walked over to the bed and pulled a box out of her bag. It wasn’t a very fancy box, but she had tried to spruce it up a little with a pink bow. It was Valentine’s Day, after all. Nico bit her lip, struck by the sudden nervousness that had been following her around all week. Should she give Eli chocolate? That’s what she was supposed to do, right? Since she and Eli were…

But it was _Eli_. Would she even realize why Nico was giving her chocolate? Or would she just pass it off as a friendly thing to do? Probably. She didn’t even have a _rice cooker_ , Nico couldn’t expect her to understand this type of tradition. Eli had gotten a lot of chocolate and sweets in her locker this morning, though. As expected; Nico would never admit it out loud, but Eli was definitely the most popular girl in the school. Attractive, smart, cool; being the former student council president and now an idol only helped. If Nico was honest with herself, she was just a little bit jealous. Okay, maybe more than a little bit. But she was more jealous about all the attention Eli had received from the underclassmen at the school. They didn’t even know her, and yet they were trying to win her affection with chocolate. Which was probably the easiest way to go about it with Eli, but still. Nico couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed.

That was why she had gone straight home after school and made some chocolate of her own. She’d been thinking about making some for the past few days, but kept putting it off because she wasn’t sure how Eli would react. Even now, she was a bit nervous about giving them. Nico sighed, glancing restlessly around the room before placing the box gingerly on the bed and leaving the room. Eli would know who left them, of course, but at least this way Nico could avoid a confrontation. That would just be embarrassing, and Nico didn’t want to make a fool of herself.

She headed back down hallway, reaching the kitchen a few moments before she heard the front door open. Quickly dropping her bag on the counter, she pulled out her phone and opened some random game she had downloaded yesterday, tapping randomly at the screen in an attempt to seem busy.

“I’m back,” Eli said as she entered the kitchen. “Sorry I took so long, there was – are you okay?”

“Y-yeah. You just startled me, is all.” Nico bent down to pick her phone up off the ground and quickly changed the subject. “Did you find the rice?”

Eli gave her an odd look but didn’t comment, answering the question instead. “I got a few different types. I think they’ll all work, but I wasn’t sure if you’d have a preference.” She pulled the containers out of her bag and Nico moved closer to see. They were all the same, really. Standard, pre-prepared white rice. _Just stick it in the microwave and enjoy your meaningless, tasteless lives; perfect for your everyday lazy cooks. And for victims of Russia’s lack of rice cookers, apparently._

“Doesn’t matter to me. They probably all taste the same, anyways.” Nico shrugged, leaning her back against the counter.

“Hmm. Well, they only take a few minutes to make, so I’ll pick one later.”

Nico nodded in acknowledgement, frowning slightly as an awkward atmosphere settled over the kitchen. This always happened, didn’t it? They were fine when there was something to do, but the moment that stopped suddenly they had nothing to talk about. _I gotta do something to fix that, or this is going to be a very long dinner. What would a good conversation topic be? Let’s see…_ Nico’s mind immediately went back to the pictures in Eli’s room _._

“What do your parents do?”

“My parents?” Eli turned to face Nico, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

“Yeah. They don’t live here, right? Are they still in Russia?”

“Oh, no. They’re in… Germany right now, I think?” Eli’s voice became quiet as she spoke, her eyes growing soft and distant. “They’re part of a famous ballet company. They travel the world, giving performances with other dancers to thousands of people. I haven’t seen them since I first moved to Japan, but we try to keep in touch. They send me videos of their shows, sometimes. They’re amazing. Their movements flow so smoothly, and they make the dance truly come alive. I used to sit in the studio, watching them for hours. Even when they were just practicing, you could tell how much love they put into the dance. It fueled everything they did.”

Nico watched Eli as she talked, remembering the pictures she had seen. It was true, Eli’s parents clearly loved ballet, but so did Eli herself. Nico could hear the wistful longing in her voice, and wondered how anyone could love it more.

“Did you want to do that too? Travel around the world and perform?”

Eli was quiet for a moment. “That was my dream,” she finally said, and Nico saw the glint of sadness that appeared in her eyes. “But dreams don’t always come true. I’ve moved on.”

“No.” Nico frowned, feeling anger bubble up inside her.

“Huh?”

“No, you should _never_ -“

The timer rang. In the split second pause Nico took, Eli rushed over to the stove, cutting her off. She knew what Nico was going to say, and she didn’t want to hear it. Eli had tried following her dreams. She had tried over and over, and it had gotten her nowhere. She wasn’t willing to try again.

“What do we do with the meat now? You have to add in spices, right? Can I help?” She gave Nico a smile, hoping that the conversation would be dropped. Nico didn’t respond right away, still frowning, but she finally seemed to decide that it wasn’t a topic worth pursuing. She sighed, grabbing the spice bottles and bringing them over to the pot.

“I’ll take care of it.” Nico flipped open the cap of the first bottle and sprinkled some into the pot. “This is the great Nico-Nii’s recipe! I came up with it myself, so it’s sure to be the best!”

She worked quickly, pouring in varying amounts of each spice with ease. It took no more than a minute, and after Eli heated up the rice they finally sat down to eat. It was delicious; the spices complemented the meat perfectly, and each bite tasted wonderful. Eli said as much, and Nico agreed with her usual arrogant smile.

“I think you’ve gotten better, though.”

“Really?” Nico’s grin disappeared, her eyes showing genuine interest as she leaned forward.

“Mmm. I remember what you made during our first training camp, and I think this tastes better. I’m not sure I could say what’s different, exactly, but it’s more… more flavorful.”

“Oh yeah? That’s good to hear. I’ve changed some things around since then, and while it always tastes good, of course, having a second opinion is nice.”

“What about your siblings? Don’t they have any thoughts?”

“It’s food, and I’m the one that made it, so that’s all they really care about. Having adoring younger siblings is great, don’t get me wrong, but they don’t have the best criticism sometimes.”

Eli laughed softly. “Is that so. Arisa seems to be just fine calling me out on things. She’s as bad as Nozomi, sometimes. I can’t hide anything from either of them.”

“Ugh, yeah. She can be awful. Hey, did you hear what she did yesterday?”

“No, what did she do this time?”

Nico grinned, telling the story with gusto. They talked for a while about Nozomi and the other members of Muse, eventually ending up at the subject of their most recent live. It had taken place on the rooftop of the school, loving decorated during the week in the theme of Valentine’s Day.

“It was a good live,” Nico was saying, “and it’ll get us a bunch more fans, but I’m not sure they’re the type of fans we want.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I mean, we were dancing around in skimpy maid outfits. And we looked great doing it, of course, but there are some creepy guys that are into that kind of stuff.”

“That’s true. Any fans we can get will be helpful, though. We’ll need a lot of support to win Love Live.”

“Mm.” Nico leaned back in her chair, hands behind her head. There was a moment of silence before Eli spoke again.

“I do wonder how Umi fared, having to write Mogyutto ‘love’ de Sekkin Chuu. It must have been hard for her.”

Nico snorted, rolling her eyes. “I still can’t believe how much of a prude she is. Honoka and Kotori probably helped her out, that’s the only way I can see it happening.”

“Well, they did a good job, however it happened.” Eli got to her feet, gathering the empty plates and bringing them over to the sink. “Do you want to stay for desert? I made some шоколадные картошка last night. They’ll only take a few minutes to finish up.”

“You made _what?_ ”

“ _Shokoladne kartoshka_ ,” Eli repeated slowly. “It’s Russian for chocolate potatoes.” She pulled a bowl out of the fridge and set it on the counter, turning back around when she didn’t hear a response. Nico was staring at her with a mixture of horror and confusion, her mouth hanging open. “What?”

“What do you mean, what! Why the _hell_ would you put _chocolate_ on _potatoes_!? First the rice cookers, now this! I never knew there were so many things wrong with Russia. The cold must have frozen your brains, or something, that’s the only explanation I can think of!”

Eli rolled her eyes, ignoring Nico’s rant and carefully measuring out sugar and cacao powder. “They’re not actual potatoes,” she said after Nico finished. “They’re chocolate truffles in the shape of potatoes. And they taste good, too, so you should at least try one.”

“Oh.”  Nico paused, considering the new information. “Well, in that case, sure. What’s in them?”

“Not too much. Let’s see…” Eli worked as thought, scooping out balls of batter and forming them into small log-like shapes. “Milk, butter, and cacao powder for the batter, with cookies, walnuts, and sugar mixed in. You can also put rum into it, I believe, but I never have.”

“Now that would be interesting. Let’s put some in the next batch and bring them to practice. I want to see Maki and the others get drunk.”

Eli grimaced. “I don’t think that would be the best idea. It wouldn’t be enough to get any drunk, anyways.”

“Why are you always such a party pooper? Maybe you’re the one we should get drunk. We can make your potatoes and then you’ll chug the rest of the rum.”

“I think I’ll pass. I got drunk once back in Russia, and it’s really not that exciting. You’d just be disappointed. Here, try a truffle.” Eli head out the plate to Nico, who took a chocolate and popped it in her mouth.

“Oh, hey, these are pretty good. I want to hear more about you getting drunk, though. How’d that happen?” She grabbed another truffle, munching on it as she waited for Eli’s story. They were better than she had expected. Seems Eli did know how to cook after all.

“It was an accident. My grandmother put her glass of vodka next to my glass of water, and I grabbed the wrong one. Turns out I have very low alcohol tolerance, or at least I did when I was ten. I didn’t do much, though.  I talked to a plant for half an hour and then passed out, I believe.”

“Wow. Even drunk you’re no fun. I’m kinda impressed, actually.”

“You know, you keep saying that, but you also keep coming over every week. So my company must be at least somewhat enjoyable.”

“Well, yeah, you can be fun to be around, sure. You just have boring moments. But that’s what I’m here for! I’m here to spice up your life.”

“And to try to kill me with rollercoasters, right?”

“Hey, I had to survive them too! Oh, but that reminds me. Next week it’s your turn.” Nico saw the confusion on Eli’s face and elaborated: “To pick something. Somewhere to go, or something to do. I’ve been deciding all our activities so far, and it’s feeling a little one-sided. I have to do all the hard work and you just sit here and wait. So! Next week you pick. I’ll come over after lunch, just tell me if there’s anything I have to bring.”

“Hmm…” Eli leaned against the counter, eyes unfocused as she thought. “Nothing immediately comes to mind. That seems fair, though. I’ll let you know when I come up with something. And I’ll make sure it’s something fun, just for you.”

“I should hope so. I’m putting my faith in you, so don’t disappoint me!”

Eli laughed. Nico dropped her stern façade and smiled, and they each ate a chocolate potato quietly.

“I should probably get going,” Nico said after a few minutes. “I don’t want my siblings to worry.”

“Alright. Do you want to take any of the truffles with you? There’s plenty here.”

“Sure, that’d be great.”

Nico packed the few things she had and headed to the door, slipping on her shoes and coat. Eli handed her the chocolates and they said goodnight, Nico smiling and waving as she left. _It was a nice evening_ , Eli thought as she cleaned up the kitchen. They were always busy when they were hanging out, playing games or running around. This had been relaxing. They were able to sit down and talk, without worrying about anything else. And Nico’s cooking was always a bonus.

“I should probably look into getting a rice cooker though.” Eli laughed softly, remembering the horrified look on Nico’s face. Well, it had tasted fine, so it wasn’t really that big of a deal. _Still, I should write myself a note. Just in case Nico wants to cook again._ Eli headed to her room to find a piece of paper. She was about to sit down at her desk when a black box on her bed caught her eye.

 _Wait… what’s that?_ Eli picked the box up cautiously. Did she own a box like this? She undid the pink ribbon slowly, her eyes widening when she saw what was inside. A dozen small chocolates filled the box, each one shaped carefully into a heart. Most of them appeared to be plain, but a few had fruits or nuts and a couple looked to have some sort of filling.

 _Did Nico make these?_ Eli realized that she was holding her breath, and she let it out slowly. There was an odd heat in her chest, her heart pounding strangely. _She must have left them here when I was out buying rice… why didn’t she say anything?_

That wasn’t like Nico. If she was going to put effort into something, she was going to take credit for it. The chocolates looked very professional; it was hard to tell that they were homemade, and they must have taken a lot of work to make. Yet she had just left them here, without comment. Why? Eli was surprised to find that the answer was obvious.

 _They’re important._ That was the only time Nico hid things: when she had strong emotional investment in them. Eli laid back on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and running her fingers absentmindedly over the box. She worked through the situation slowly, trying to avoid the conclusion she knew she was going to reach. There wasn’t much to work through, though: it was Valentine’s Day. Chocolates were a traditional gift for friends and loved ones.

Eli sighed. It was clear which category she fell into. _Nico isn’t one for making friendly gestures like that. And if she was, surely she would have made some for Nozomi and Maki, too. I can’t say for sure that she didn’t, but…_ There was no point in beating around the bush. Nico had feelings for her; very possibly romantic feelings. And there was that warmth again, the one that filled her body and made her dizzy, pulsing in tune with the beating of her heart. Eli groaned, rolling over and burying her face in her pillow. She hated dealing with things like this.


	5. Skating

They were halfway to their destination and Nico still had no idea what was going on. Eli was sitting quietly on the train, fingers tapping out the rhythm to some song on her leg. She had been stubbornly silent about where they were going. Nico had tried multiple times to wheedle the answer out of her, switching from straight up asking to using her cute charm to get Eli to give in, but neither way had any success. Eli just smiled every time and changed the subject. Nico pouted, glancing out of the corner of her eye to see if Eli was watching. One more try wouldn’t hurt.

“Ahhh, it’s such a shame,” Nico started, putting all the sweetness into her voice that she could muster, “Nico really wants to be excited about this trip, but it’s really hard when she doesn’t know what’s going to happen. Nico’s not a fan of surprises, you know, so won’t you pretty please tell her where we’re going?”

No response. _Damn_ , Eli was good. Very few people could resist Nico when she used her self-proclaimed sugar voice.

“Come _on_ ,” Nico groaned, her voice dropping down to its normal pitch, “why can’t you just say it? I’ve told you where we were going every time!”

“We’re almost there, so you only have to be patient a little longer.”

“Hmph. ‘Be patient’. I’m going keep our destination a secret next time, and we’ll see just how patient _you_ are.”

“I’ll look forward to it.”

Nico wrinkled her nose at the calm response and slouched in her seat, arms crossed. The train pulled silently into the station a few minutes later, and Nico followed Eli out onto the platform. She looked around as they walked, shivering slightly in the crisp February air. The area was completely unfamiliar. Well that wasn’t fair, now Nico actually had no choice but to wait to find out where they were going. Someday she was going to have to teach Eli that keeping an idol waiting was no good.

“Here we are,” Eli said a little while later, smiling proudly. Nico turned to look at the building in front of them and gaped.

“An _ice rink_?”

“Mmhmm. I thought it’d be fun to go skating. Is that okay?”

“Sure, it’s fine. But it’s going to be _cold_! You should have told me not to wear a dress!”

“You’ll warm up once you get moving, don’t worry.”

“Oh that’s really reassuring, coming from the Russian,” Nico grumbled as she followed Eli into the building.

“Did you say something?”

“Nope.”

“Hmm.” Eli glanced at Nico as they grabbed their rental skates. She seemed unsure about the idea of ice skating, but not opposed to it. That was relieving. Eli had spent most of the week trying to come up with something to do that Nico would be happy with, and this was the best idea she had come up with. Maybe Nico looked off because she was nervous?  That could make sense. “Have you ever been ice skating before?”

Nico jumped at the question, and Eli hid her smile. “Of-of course! Who do you think you’re talking to? An idol has to be talented in everything, you know. I’ve skated a bunch of times before. I know all about the- the jumps, and the spins, and the not falling over, and, and everything! I’m an expert. I know everything …except for how to tie these things.” Nico bit her lip and looked away, the laces a tangled mess around her feet. Eli laughed, kneeling in front of her and easily lacing up the skates.

“Someday that lying is going to get you in trouble, you know,” she said lightly.

“Yeah, well… maybe you should stop asking stupid questions.”

“We’ll see. Are the skates tight enough?”

Nico stood up, wobbling a little as she tried to find her balance. She took a shaky step forward, and when she didn’t fall flat on her face she nodded. Eli stayed right next to her, ready to catch her if something happened.

“Seems good.” Nico looked up from her feet and blinked in surprise. “Oh, wow, is this what it’s like to be tall? I should wear these all the time, this is great.”

“Being tall isn’t really that exciting.”

“Says you. But when I get a second growth spurt someday and end up taller than you, you’re going to wish you appreciated it more.”

“Is that so. Be careful of the step here.” Eli stepped neatly onto the ice and turned to face Nico, holding out her hand. “Do you want help?”

“No way. Just because I haven’t skated before doesn’t mean I can’t. I’m sure it will be really eassss-woah!” Nico grabbed the wall as she slipped, barely managing to stay upright. “See? Easy!”

Eli smiled, but she didn’t comment. They moved slowly around the rink, Nico clinging to the wall for balance and Eli gliding gracefully alongside her. She was surprised at how much she missed ice skating. The feeling of floating across the ice, letting only momentum carry her, was soothing and peaceful.

“So how’d you learn to skate?” Nico asked after their first lap. “You’ve never mentioned it before.”

“No, I haven’t thought about it in a while. Arisa and I used to go every so often, but we haven’t had the time this year.”

“So you just do it for fun?”

“Now, yes. But I used to take lessons when I was younger. Figure skating is similar to ballet in some ways, so it was helpful. They both need grace, and finesse control, and balance. I did fairly well in my lessons, but I don’t know how much I remember. It’s been a long time since I’ve done any jumps.”

“Well, at least you remember how to move around without falling. I’m bored of being on the wall. Help me skate normally.” Nico stepped away from the wall, placing a hand on Eli’s arm to brace herself. “How do I move without actually moving my feet like you’re doing?”

“It’s not hard. Once you start moving, the ice will keep you going. Here, I’ll show you.” Eli grabbed Nico’s hands and started gliding slowly backwards. Nico’s eyes widened in panic as she started sliding across the ice.

“W-wait! Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“It’ll be fine, just relax. Stay balanced on the middle of your feet, and I’ll do all the work.” Eli gave a reassuring smile, and Nico forced herself to loosen up. They went around the rink once, twice, Eli’s hands gently tugging Nico the entire way.

Nico looked down at her feet, at the other skaters, at the empty bleachers. Anything to avoid looking straight at Eli. They were too close. Not that Nico minded, really, but it was embarrassing. Every time she looked up she was staring right into Eli’s light blue eyes, and it took all of her will power not to blush. But she could still see Eli’s smile out of the corner of her eye, and it looked like the same smile Eli had given her when thanking her for the chocolates last week.

Or rather, it looked like the smile Nico had _expected_ to receive, if Eli had actually acknowledged the chocolates in any way. An entire week had gone by, and there hadn’t been a peep about them. No mention of them, no thank you, not even a grateful nod. And certainly no heartfelt return confession. Nico was starting to worry that she had misinterpreted the situation.

The simple answer was to just ask. Nico knew that, and had thought about that, and had completely dismissed the idea. How much more awkward could you get? _Hey I left you this sign of my undying love for you and you didn’t respond. What’s up with that?_ There was no way Nico could say that.

But… Nico hated not knowing. Maybe it would be worth looking like a fool if she got an answer. How should she ask it though? Could she ask about them without practically confessing? Maybe a _hey, I left you some chocolates last week and I wanted to make sure you got them, ‘cause I made them as a sign of our friendship and I know that sounds dumb and sappy but if you had actually thanked me for them like a normal person I wouldn’t have had to say that, so really it’s all your fauuuuuuuu-_

“Ahhh!” Nico’s shout of panic echoed across the rink as she tilted backwards, Eli’s desperate attempts at keeping them steady failing as Nico pulled them both down to crash against the ice.

 _Now_ they were too close. Eli was lying almost directly on top of Nico, their faces only inches apart. Nico couldn’t help but look directly into Eli’s startled eyes, and she felt her throat dry up. This was bad. This was _really_ bad. She could hear Eli stammering apologies, but all she could think of was how cute Eli looked with a blush spreading across her face.

“…ico? Nico? Nico, are you alright? Did you hit your head? Say something.”

Nico registered Eli’s worried expression and blurted out the first thing that came to mind: “This is just like my manga.”

Eli blinked in confusion before laughing and standing up. “I’m not sure what you mean by that, but I’ll assume it means you’re okay.”

Nico grinned as she pushed herself to her feet, taking the idea and running with it. “Okay? I’m great! Come on, you’ve seen enough romance movies, you know how these scenes go. The beautiful, perfect main character falls over, and the charming love interest falls on top of her. The audience gasps –” Nico simulated the action, her eyes growing wide in fake anticipation “- in hopes that this will lead to an accidental kiss. But their hopes are dashed! The love interest just barely saves herself in time, but still ends up pressed _intimately_ against the pure main character. The main character blushes first. She’ll never be able to get married after this. The love interest realizes her mistake and also blushes. And do you know what happens next? Come on, come on, you have to guess.”

“Hmm…” Eli hummed absentmindedly, and Nico knew that although she was listening, she wasn’t really paying attention. Fair enough. But that meant that Nico could use the opportunity to say whatever she wanted. She grabbed Eli’s arm, nearly toppling them over again, and batted her eyelashes.

“The love interest helps the main character to her feet and apologizes for her clumsiness, even though she didn’t actually cause the fall. The main character bashfully accepts, and the love interest just can’t help herself. She leans down and kisses the main character, and the birds sing, and the fireworks go off in the distance, and the characters confess their long-harbored love for each other and vow never to part again and ride off into the sunset.” Nico paused, catching her breath, and then put on the most innocent expression she could manage as she looked up at Eli. “So? We can’t start the scene without ending it properly. That violates, like, five rules of theater.”

Eli swallowed hard and looked away, laughing nervously. “…so I’m supposed to be some love interest, then?”

It was an awkward response, and they both knew it. But Nico accepted the change in subject, not wanting to make Eli uncomfortable. She’d get that story to work someday.

“Not _some_ love interest!” she explained, feeling Eli immediately relax, “You’re the charming one! The main character has dozens of love interests in these kinds of stories. The dashing one, the brave one, the cute one, you get the idea. But you’re the charming one. So come on! Charm away, Ayase.”

Nico grinned and pushed herself off of Eli, wobbling a little as she slid backwards but luckily keeping her balance. Eli shot her a confused look.

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know, it’s not my job. I just have to be pure and sweet, talents that _obviously_ come naturally me. You said you took ice skating lessons, right? Do a fancy trick or something.”

“A trick, huh?” Eli looked around the rink, thinking. It was a good thing there weren’t too many people skating; there was plenty of room for the smaller jumps and spins. Assuming Eli remembered how to do them. “I think I could manage to do one or two. Come on, let’s go to the middle of the rink.”

“Okay.” Nico took one step forward and slipped backwards, arms pin wheeling as she tried to regain her balance. Eli winced as Nico landed hard on her back.

“Are you okay?”

“I hate skating,” Nico muttered, accepting Eli’s hand as she got back to her feet.

“It just takes some getting used to. You’ll get the hang of it.”

Nico made a face at that, unhappily letting Eli tow her to the center of the rink.

“So, what kind of trick are you going to do? A backflip? A cartwheel?”

“I think you have a huge misunderstanding of what ice skating is.”

“Naah.” Nico waved a hand lazily. “You’re just not being creative enough.”

“Uh huh. Well, I never got to the higher jumps and spins in my lessons, but I think I can still do the more basic ones. I’m afraid they won’t be quite as exciting as a backflip, but they’ll have to do.”

Eli glided a few feet away from Nico and turned backwards, checking to make sure no one was behind her as she wound up for a spin. She’d start simple, just an easy two foot spin, and work her way up from there.

A step in the right direction, a twist from her other leg for momentum, and Eli was spinning around and around, arms stretched out delicately. Her heart pounded as she spun, her hair whipping around and the icy air stinging her cheeks. She drew her arms in and went faster, faster, the rink a blur racing past her eyes.

She gracefully exited the spin a few moments later and started setting up for a second one, not even pausing to look at Nico. She twirled around on one foot this time, her free leg crossed neatly over the other. On a whim she raised her arms above her head and closed her eyes, letting the motion of the spin carry her. Just like in ballet.

The sound of clapping reached Eli’s ears as she slowed to a stop, and she opened her eyes to see Nico applauding. A blush rose unbidden to her face and she averted her gaze.

“It wasn’t that impressive,” she complained. Nico rolled her eyes.

“Are you kidding me? You looked awesome.”

“It was just a simple spin, though.”

“Who cares if it was simple?” Nico put her hands on her hips and frowned at Eli. “Don’t sell yourself short, okay? If you do I’ll have to find some way to get over there without falling over again so I can knock some sense into you. I mean really… you looked really pretty, okay?”

Now Nico was blushing too, and Eli was struck with a sudden desire to impress her. She could do better than a couple of spins.

“I’m going to do a jump. Hold on.”

She skated around the edge of the rink quickly, building up speed. Right before she had stopped lessons, she had learned one of the first full turn jumps. They were harder than half turn jumps, requiring more power and balance to make the full revolution in the air. It wouldn’t be easy to complete, given all the years since Eli had tried it, but she thought she remembered the steps.

She skated past Nico and turned around, gliding backwards on one foot. Sticking her free leg in the ice behind her, she propelled off her toe and jumped into the air, bringing her arms in and spinning. And she – no, she was off balance. She could feel it in the slight tilt of her body, the way she wasn’t completely perpendicular to the ground. Maybe she could save it, maybe she could-

She landed on the edge of her blade and tipped over, landing hard on her side. The chill of the ice seeped through her jacket. With a sigh she rolled over onto her back, looking blankly up at the ceiling. So much for that. Well, it could be worse, she mused. At least she hadn’t fallen during the spins. Nico’s worried face popped into view a moment later, and Eli smiled up at her.

“Guess I messed that one up, huh?”

Nico snorted. “I’m demoting you from charming love interest to clumsy love interest. That was just sad.”

“Oh, what a shame. Does this mean I have to turn in my badge?”

“Definitely.” Nico nodded solemnly, scooting backwards as Eli sat up. She was on her hands and knees, having crawled across the ice to reach Eli. “I hope you’re disappointed in yourself.”

Eli got to her feet gracefully and helped Nico up. She was feeling playful all of the sudden, the adrenaline from the fall putting her in a good mood. “Very. I’ll never be able to live with myself. How can I redeem myself, oh beautiful and perfect main character?”

Nico smirked. “Oh, you should not have asked that. Let’s see… First, you have to carry me bridle style around the rink, like a proper princess. Then you have to give me a massage, and buy me cute clothes, and feed me cake, and-”

Eli put a hand on Nico’s head to stop her. “How about I just help you over to the concession stand and treat you to one of those big pretzels.”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess that works too.”

~*~

“Uughh, I’m so sore. I never knew ice skating would hurt so much.” Nico stretched as they walked back from the train station, grimacing as her muscles complained at the motion. They had skated for over two hours, and she was sure that she’d be covered in bruises the next morning.

“Well, you did fall a lot,” Eli agreed, “but I think you were starting to get the hang of it towards the end.”

“Yeah, I made it one full loop around the rink without touching the wall or falling over.” Nico rolled her eyes. “I don’t think I’d call that getting the hang of it.”

“What was it you said, don’t sell yourself short? Compared to when you started, I’d say you did a good job.” Eli smiled at Nico’s noncommittal shrug. She really had done well, and Eli was sure that as soon as Nico got home she’d be bragging about it to her siblings. “Did you enjoy it, at least? I tried to come up with something suitably fun for your tastes.”

“I’ll admit, I had my doubts,” Nico started, glancing at Eli out of the corner of her eye. “But it seems you do have some good ideas now and again. You picked well.”

The compliment was more satisfying than Eli had expected.  “Does this mean you’ll stop saying I’m no fun?”

“No way!” Nico grinned. “You’ve earned that title, and you’re not getting rid of it that easily.”

“Ah, how disappointing,” Eli sighed. “Well, there’s always next time I suppose. Do I need to come up with something for next week too?”

“Nah, you’re off the hook. I have a couple of good ideas I want to use. But you have to wait until next week to find out what they are! So no asking, got it?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

Nico stuck her tongue out at the fake serious tone and Eli laughed. They reached the corner where they went their separate ways sooner than they expected, and they had their usual hesitation and awkwardness. The day was over, they had had their fun, but neither quite wanted it to end. It had to though; there was work to do, and siblings to take care of, and dinner to make. Nico broke first.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you Monday.”

“Yeah…” Eli hesitated for a moment longer before leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to Nico’s cheek. Nico’s mouth dropped open, her eyes wide and her face rapidly turning red. Eli winked. “I have to earn back my position as the charming love interest somehow.”

She ran across the street with a wave, and Nico stayed frozen at the curb.


	6. Movie

“Eli’s _sick?_ ”

Arisa nodded, shuffling her feet awkwardly in the doorway. Probably nervous at being in the presence of a famous idol, Nico thought idly. But seriously, what bad timing. Of all the days for Eli to get sick, it had to be today. And everything was so nicely planned, too! She mourned the loss of her ruined Saturday.

“Well…” Nico sighed, fingering the now useless tickets sitting in her pocket. “Tell her I stopped by, I guess? And tell her I said to rest! It’s no good for idols to get sick, so she better get well soon, alright?”

“Yep!” Arisa nodded several times, smiling brightly. Nico hesitated a moment longer before turning away. The door shut behind her, a dull thud that echoed in the sudden emptiness. What was she supposed to do now? She’d been looking forward to this all week: Take Eli to the movies, bump hands when they reached for popcorn at the same time, grab her arm in fake fear during the scary parts, and end the night with a perfect good night kiss. Everything would have gone nice and smooth, and now Eli had ruined it. Stupid cold weather. Weren’t Russians supposed to be immune to the cold?

Nico kicked the floor in annoyance. Stupid goddamn, sick, workaholic, annoying, smart, beautiful-

“Nico?”

She turned at the sound of her name, her inner rant-turned-compliments fading from thought as she saw Eli hanging out the doorway. Her cheeks were flushed and her skin pale, but she still put on a smile and waved.

“What the hell are you doing?” Nico frowned and strode back to the apartment. “Do you not know the meaning of being sick? What am I saying, of course you don’t. You never stop working for even a second. Come on, go back to bed. You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Eli shook her head, ignoring Nico’s attempts to push her back inside. “I’m fine, I’m fine. Do you want to come in?”

“What?”

“Just because I can’t go out doesn’t mean you can’t come in. We can still do stuff here.”

Nico hesitated. It was a bad idea, and she knew it. She could get sick, Eli could get worse, she could embarrass herself in front of Arisa- well, no. Nico never embarrassed herself. But still, it was a bad idea, despite how much Nico wanted to accept.

“We really shouldn’t,” she finally said. Sometime she hated being the responsible one. “Look at you, you’re not even dressed. I never saw you at school, and if you weren’t well enough to go to school, then you’re not well enough to hang out.”

“I’d rather skip school than skip you.” Eli said it with a completely straight face, and Nico could almost feel her mouth drop open in shock.

“I can’t believe you actually just said that. I can’t believe you. You’re sick for a half day and you’ve already sunk so low. You know what, I’m coming in. But _only_ to make sure you actually get some rest and stop losing your mind.”

Nico brushed past Eli and stepped into the house. Nothing had changed in the two weeks since she’d been here, so she wasted no time in looking around before striding straight to the kitchen. Eli followed her, hand running along the wall for balance. She paused just inside the kitchen, watching Nico crouch down on the floor to dig through the fridge.

“What are you doing?”

“Making something healthy for you to eat.”

“What? You don’t have to do that, I can make my own food.”

“You can go back to bed and lie down. I’m now the official leader of Operation Make Ayase Eli Better So She Stops Saying Dumb Things, and you’re not fainting on my watch. So get to bed.”

Eli sighed, the barest hint of a smile on her face. She sounded tired of all the sudden, her body sagging and her voice just above a whisper.

“Alright. Come join me whenever you’re done. I’ll find something for us to do.”

She left, her body swaying as she made her way down the hall. Nico watched her go, eyebrows furrowed in concern. Knowing Eli, she had probably been sick all week, hiding it to seem stronger in front of the rest of the group. She must really be feeling bad to stay home. But no matter. Nico turned back to the fridge, pulling out chicken and vegetables. No one could stay sick for long after they tasted Super Idol Nico Nii’s Amazing Cure-All Soup.

Half an hour later and the broth was simmering, the smell drifting through the air. Nico stood back and admired her handiwork. It was hard finding the right ingredients in the small kitchen, but she was pretty proud with what she’d thrown together. There was nothing to do now though, at least not for a while. She set a timer on her phone, cleaned up the mess, and headed over to Eli’s room. If she was lucky Eli was actually in bed and not passed out on the floor somewhere.

She was greeted by violent coughing the moment she stepped into the room. Eli was sitting in bed, hunched over and shaking, one hand covering her mouth and the other pushing the laptop off her lap. Nico rushed over to her, grabbing the half-finished glass of water on the bedside table and pushing it into Eli’s hand. Eli’s fingers were clammy and shaking. Nico talked softly and firmly to her, the way she did to her sick and crying siblings, and slowly the coughing subsided.

“Better now?”

“I think so. Thank you.”

“No problem. Well,” Nico stood up from the bed, taking Eli’s now empty glass and putting it aside. “You clearly need some rest. The soup just needs to simmer for a few hours and then you can have it. I’ll leave you alone-“

“No.”

“Huh?”

Eli scooted back until she was resting against the headboard, pulling the laptop closer and motioning to the screen.

“I picked out a movie for us to watch.”

“When will you accept the fact that you’re sick?”

“It’s just a movie. I think I can survive that. So stay? Please?”

Nico sighed. Eli could be so stubborn sometimes. But at least this way Nico could watch her, make sure she actually stayed in bed.

“Fine. But only because I want to check on the soup in a little while, okay?”

Eli gave a small smile. “Okay.”

Nico climbed into bed next to her and settled into the pillows, raising an eyebrow at the movie on screen. “Seriously? You picked this one?”

“Is it not good? You can pick something else if you like.”

“No, no, it’s fine. Come on.” She pulled the laptop closer and started the movie.

_The scene started with rain. A slow pitter patter against the ground, then louder and faster, turning the river into a swirling surface of ripples. The girl leaned over the edge of the railing, staring down at the water. Her long hair was drenched, her dress clinging to her body. She paid it no attention. Today was supposed to be the start of something amazing, and no amount of rain was going to stop that._

“Someone’s going to get a cold,” Nico whispered with a teasing grin, nudging Eli slightly. Eli shushed her, shifting the laptop so she could see better.

_“Tomoko-san!” The call rang out through the rain and Tomoko spun around, heart pounding. There she was. Ai stepped lightly through the downpour, a brilliant smile on her face. She reached Tomoko and raised her umbrella up so it shielded them both. “Sorry, have you been waiting long?”_

_“Not at all.” Tomoko smiled, trying to ease the worried look on Ai’s face. She never wanted to see her frown. “But Ai-chan, you know you can call me Tomoko. There’s no need to be so formal.”_

_“No, no, it’s fine.” Ai shook her head, and Tomoko gritted her teeth against the sudden pain in her chest. “You’re my upperclassmen after all.”_

_“Of course, whatever you want. Shall we go?”_

Scenes passed. Tomoko and Ai met several times, and Nico watched with mild interest as the story unfolded. Tomoko had run into Ai, her former underclassmen in high school, while on break from college. She fell in love immediately, with the classic slow motion head turn as they saw each other walking down the street. From there it turned into the usual miscommunication story, with Ai completely oblivious to Tomoko’s advances. One of the more boring tropes, Nico decided. Like that would ever happen in real life. But Eli seemed enraptured by the movie.

_“There you are!” Tomoko strode over to the crane machine, putting a hand on Ai’s shoulder and peering in. Ai was pressed against the glass, staring at the fluffy dog plush. Tomoko saw the desire in her eyes and smiled._

_“Alright!” Digging a few coins out of her pocket and sliding them into the machine, she grabbed the joy stick and began maneuvering the crane. Ai bounced in excitement as she saw the claw lower over the dog. This was perfect, Tomoko thought. She’d win the animal and win Ai’s affection at the same time._

_But luck was not with her that day, and with empty pockets and empty hands, she made sure to apologize profusely as they left the arcade._

“I remember doing that for Arisa once,” Eli murmured, her eyes half open. “I wasn’t any more successful.”

“You just have to have the right touch,” Nico said, shifting slightly to their arms were brushing against each other. She smirked. “I always win crane games first try.”

“Is that so? You’ll have to show me sometime then.”

“Sure, but only after you get better. We’re not going anywhere near an arcade with you in this condition. Got it?”

Eli let out a soft laugh and nodded. “Sounds fair to me.”

_The sky was covered in stars. Sounds of laughter and talking drifted through the air, accompanied by the smells of various food stalls. Tomoko led Ai through the festival, smiling at Ai’s fascination with the scene. They stopped several times, eating dango and playing games. But the main attraction was still ahead, and Tomoko grew impatient. She urged Ai on, passing by the stalls with barely a glance. She didn’t notice Ai’s longing looks._

_The Ferris Wheel loomed above them. The carts spun slowly around, shadows of people talking visible through the windows. Tomoko pointed at it, grinning down at Ai._

_“So? Want to ride?”_

_The answer was a murmured yes. Not the excited response she had been hoping for, but Tomoko ignored it. They boarded the ride, the seat swaying. Ai looked out the window, gazing down at the bright lights and people wandering around. Tomoko looked at Ai._

_They reached the top, and Tomoko took a deep breath. This was it. She leaned forward. A kiss at the top of a Ferris Wheel, what could be more romantic? She placed a hand on Ai’s knee, watching as the girl’s eyes widened when she saw how close they were._

_“Tomoko-san…?”_

_Tomoko didn’t respond. She moved closer, until she could feel Ai’s breath on her cheeks. There was no backing down now. Everything seemed to slow down, her heartbeat rising and falling like waves brushing the shore. There was no sound, no time, only Ai’s face looking up at her. Closer. Closer still, until only the barest bit of space separated them._

_Everything shattered with a burst of noise. The firework exploded high in the sky, blue sparks mingling among the stars. Ai jumped up, rushing to the window and shaking the cart._

_“Look at that, Tomoko-san! Isn’t it pretty?”_

_Tomoko didn’t respond._

Eli felt a pang in her heart at the scene. The fireworks continued to echo, lighting up the screen with colorful light, but she could see the emptiness in Tomoko. A missed opportunity. But maybe it was better that way? A relationship like that could never end well, with one person so focused on romance when the other wasn’t. She hoped it would end well. She wondered if she would ever find out.

Darkness edged her vision, and Eli knew she wouldn’t stay awake for long. The movie would have to wait. She slumped against Nico’s shoulder, eyes fluttering shut. Nico was bony, she mused dimly, but warm. And that was all she needed to drift off to sleep.

Nico tensed as she felt Eli’s weight settle on her, breath faltering at the sudden contact. She didn’t move, trying to relax her body in a way that wouldn’t disturb Eli. Nico glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, keeping her head still. Blonde hair fell across her flushed face, swaying softly with Eli’s quiet breaths.

“What a child,” Nico whispered, “falling asleep during a movie.” But she raised her hand up anyways, running her fingers gently through Eli’s hair. Eli curled up more at the action, a deep sigh leaving her as she shifted to lean more against Nico. And Nico held her there, feeling the fever’s heat run across Eli’s skin and the steady pulse beating through her body. Nico’s own pulse was speeding up, her mouth suddenly dry. She turned her attention back to the movie, hoping for a distraction. 

_Ai stood alone in her room. Her light blue walls, normally comforting, were harsh in the bright lighting. Before lay a myriad of pictures, spread out on the desk. She went through them, one by one, picking up the worn photos with a gentle touch._

_There they were, standing outside the middle school. Ai was smiling. Tomoko was too, she was sure, but she couldn’t tell. The tree behind them cast a shadow across her face, leaving only Ai to be illuminated by the sunlight._

_There they were, splashing in the river. Willow trees lined the bank, throwing dappled shadows across the two girls. They looked happy, water droplets flying through the air as they played, sparkling in the light and shining with tiny rainbows._

_There they were, standing outside the high school. Tomoko raised her diploma high above her head, her other hand resting on Ai’s shoulder. She was bright, grinning, her face glowing in the light. Ai seemed dwarfed next to her, looking up with adoration. Tomoko wasn’t looking back._

_There she was. Day 1, the picture said. Tomoko was sitting in her college dorm room, posters pasted all over the walls and textbooks thrown haphazardly on the desk. She was happy. Everything is great, the picture said. I’ll write to you tomorrow, the picture said. But pictures lie._

_Ai threw them all away._

There was half an hour left of the movie when Nico paused it. Eli clearly wasn’t going to wake up any time soon, and she didn’t particularly care for the ending. So she set the laptop aside, pushing Eli gently back in bed and covering her up with the blanket. A quick trip to the bathroom and she brought back a cool, wet cloth, laying it on Eli’s hot forehead. If she was lucky Eli would get some real rest now. They would need her in top form for practice next week.

Now all that was left to take care of was the soup. Nico headed over to Eli’s desk, searching for a scrap of paper to write a note on. She’d check on the soup before she left, but Eli would have to finish it up. A black box was sitting on the desk. Nico glanced at it as she reached for a pen, glanced at it again, and finally froze, pen just barely touching the paper. She set the pen down slowly, barely breathing, and pulled the cover off the box.

She knew it. Half of the valentines chocolates she had made still lay in the box, completely untouched. Nico felt dizzy all of the sudden. Eli loved chocolate. She ate every piece of chocolate in sight, no matter how good it was. Even if Nico’s chocolates were bad, awful – she told herself that was impossible, but it didn’t have as much conviction as usual – Eli would still eat them. So why were these ones left?

Nico put the cover back on the box. She had a sneaking suspicion she was doing this wrong, that she had messed up somewhere along the line. But was there any way to do it right? She liked Eli, she really did. She liked her determination, her creative ideas, her small smiles when she thought no one was looking. She liked how Eli always strove for the best, how she always knew exactly what advice to give to make a situation better. But sometimes she wondered how much that mattered.

Did she even really know Eli? She thought she understood her, thought that she could predict her reactions, but Eli was constantly surprising her. She never really knew what Eli was thinking. She wondered if she ever could.

Maybe she should stop.

Nico took a deep breath. She needed to leave, before her thoughts got the better of her. Eli was sleeping peacefully, but there was no telling how long that would last. Nico turned back to the desk and grabbed the pen, scribbling down instructions. Her writing was quick and jerky, her mind in turmoil. She couldn’t waste any time. She couldn’t let Eli see the tears forming in her eyes.

She put the note next to the pair of pliers already lying on the desk and left.

~*~

Eli woke up slowly, a heaviness in her body that made it hard to blink. It was several minutes before she found the strength to sit up, the room spinning around her. Nico was gone. Eli wasn’t surprised – a glance at the clock told her that several hours had passed. The laptop was still sitting next to her, so she pulled it over and opened it up. The movie was paused near the end. She started it, not having the energy to do much more.

_There was no music. The sound of rain pounding the ground was distant, the camera focused on Ai’s face. She looked young, her hair flattened by the water and her eyes open wide. Expressions ran across her face. Confusion. Longing. Fear._

_Tomoko grabbed Ai by the shoulders. Her grip was strong, too strong, so she slid her hands down to grasp Ai’s gently. The rain poured down, and she was reminded of their first time together. But this was no cleansing rain, washing away the past to leave a new beginning. Large drops of water splashed down on her face, rolling down her cheeks and dripping onto the ground below. Some of them tasted salty._

_“Tomoko-san…?” Ai’s lips were blue with cold, her words shaking as her teeth chattered. “What’s wrong?”_

_And Tomoko finally asked the question._

Eli fell asleep minutes before the end, the line “How do you really feel about me?” swirling around in her tired mind and coating her dreams.


	7. Mall

Something was wrong. Eli had noticed it all week, the way Nico turned away when they stood near each other, the way her words were curt when they spoke. She was just overreacting, Eli told herself. Everything had been going so smoothly these last 6 weeks, there was no reason for things to go wrong. But Nico’s words –

“What are we doing today?”

“I don’t know.”

\- left no room for doubt. It was not that Nico didn’t know, it was that she didn’t care. Her words were flat, toneless, and Eli didn’t know what to do.

“Well… we could always go to the mall?”

A shrug. “Sure. Let’s go.”

They walked in silence to the mall. It reminded Eli of their first time hanging out, all those weeks ago. But back then their silence had been born from awkwardness and confusion. This time it was colder, like the harshest winter storm that caused everything to freeze over in seconds. If she could figure out what had caused it she would do something, anything, to fix it, but she was coming up blank. Half an hour of tense atmosphere and constant thinking later, and Eli was still out of ideas. Left with no other options, Eli pushed the issue aside for a moment and decided to work solely on cheering Nico up. That she was sure she could do.

They stepped inside the mall, a rush of heat and voices greeting them as the doors slid open. It was crowded today, people rushing about and pulling children along. Stores with their brightly colored displays played upbeat music, the notes lost among the noise of the people. Eli didn’t bother waiting for Nico to suggest a store; she headed to one nearby with confident strides, trusting Nico to follow.

“Here we go. I’ve been meaning to check this place out for a while now, there was a CD I was planning on getting.”

That got Nico’s attention. She perked up for a moment, casting a glance around the store. “You know this place sells only idol music, right? You’re not going to find your weird Russian songs in this place.”

“I know that. And they aren’t weird.”

“Sure they aren’t.” Nico rolled her eyes, following Eli down one of the isles. It wasn’t a bad choice, she had to admit. There were some pretty good idols in the area that sold music here, and Nico had come many times before. But Eli definitely hadn’t. “So. What CD did you want?”

Eli froze, and Nico almost laughed at how easy it was to expose her lie. “Er. Well, I don’t actually remember the name… Ah! It was this one, actually!”

Nico took one look at the CD Eli had chosen at random and gave in to her laughter. Eli was clueless, helplessly looking between the CD and Nico as she tried to figure out what she did wrong.

“Oh, man, Eli. I never thought that you of all people would be a closet anime fan.”

“…What?”

“Come on, don’t you know anything? Here, give me that.” Nico grabbed the CD out of Eli’s hand and turned it over, pointing to the songs on the back. “Future Gazer, Judgelight, Closest Love, you couldn’t get more anime if you tried.”

“But, those are just songs, how are they related to anime?”

“You’ve been an idol for almost a year and you still don’t know anything about professional idols. We really need to turn the club back into idol research, this is just sad.” Nico waved the CD in front of Eli’s face, glad that Eli was willing to look little bit embarrassed. “Just about all of the songs on this CD are anime openings or endings. Make sense?”

“Oh.” Eli stopped for a moment to process the information.­­ “…Is that a bad thing?”

“Bad? Nah, just not for you. It would ruin your foreigner image if you started watching anime. Let’s see…” Nico scanned the CDs on the shelf, then abruptly turned away and headed to another isle. Eli glanced one more time at the discarded CD – she thought the singer looked interesting, at least, image ruiner or not – before rushing to catch up.

“Blooming?”

“Yep.” Nico nodded, holding up the CD so Eli could see it. “It’s her first album, but I’ve heard great reviews about it. She has some pretty dedicated fans already. And, one more…” Nico scooted down the aisle to grab a second CD. “Here. This one is good.”

The cover showed two young women standing next to each other, each wearing stripped blazers and ties. Nico put it on top of the first CD and turned to Eli.

“Buy these.”

“What?”

“You said you came for a CD, so here. Buy these ones.” When Eli hesitated, Nico stepped closer and shoved the CDs at her chest.

They both froze.

Nico’s determined expression slowly faded into wide eyed realization as she noticed that only inches separated them. The air seemed to heat up, time slowing down. Her fingers were just barely touching the cloth of Eli’s shirt, and she could feel her take a deep breath, see her lips beginning to part. Nico rushed to break the moment first.

“I’ll wait outside.”

She spun around and strode out of the store, leaving Eli behind. The CDs clattered loudly to the floor.

~*~

“Why don’t we grab something to eat?” Eli finally suggested, at loss for ideas. She shifted her grip on her bag, the plastic rustling. They had been wandering around the mall for nearly 10 minutes now, barely glancing at the stores they passed.

“Yeah, why not I guess. What did you want?”

“That’s a good question…”

There were several places to choose from right around them, and even more tucked away in other parts of the mall. Eli spotted the directory nearby and headed over to it, scanning the list of restaurants.

“There’s this one?” She pointed at one of the names, turning to Nico with a questioning glance.

“Nah, that place serves bad food. Trust me.”

“Okay. Then maybe here?”

Nico squinted at the name, tapping her foot idly as she thought. “Yeah, that works. I could go for some ice cream. Let’s go.”

Nico led the way this time, weaving through the crowd and down the hallways until they reached it, the colorful designs of the restaurant calling attention to the place from far away. There was no wait, and a waitress showed them to their seats immediately.

They slid into the booth, relaxing back into the cushioned seats. Eli flipped idly through the menu, scanning the choices. There were dozens of choices, from huge sundaes to banana splits to ice cream filled crepes. A few minutes later she had finally decided, setting down the menu to see Nico smirking.

“Let me guess, something all chocolate?”

“No.” Eli’s quick answer only made Nico’s smirk grow wider.

“Wow, really? I’m impressed, Eli. I never thought you’d be able to resist something called Triple Chocolate Extravaganza.”

“Ah, well… A-anyways, what are you getting?”

“Sugar Smile Extreme, duh. It’s practically named after me.”

“Of course.” Eli remembered the dish. It wasn’t at all for her, but it would definitely suit Nico well.

The waitress came by a few moments later. Eli mumbled her order as quietly as she could, knowing that even if Nico somehow couldn’t hear her, her embarrassed blush would give her away. Nico smiled at the display. Eli almost relaxed, thinking that things were finally going back to normal, when Nico’s expression suddenly turned flat.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” she said, standing up abruptly. The silverware shook as she rocked the table, the jittering noise echoing her leaving. Eli sighed. Every time she thought she was making progress, somehow it was ruined. Maybe she should ask for help. Was there something going on with Nico that she had missed? Eli started to reach for her phone, then remembered how it had died an hour earlier. Well, maybe that was for the best. She should be asking Nico directly.

The food arrived before Nico came back. Eli stared at the sundaes in wonder. They were both piled high with ice cream and toppings. Nico’s was bright pink, marshmallow sauce dripping down the sides of the strawberry ice cream. Sugar stars covered the whole things, practically sparkling in the light. Eli’s own sundae was just as impressive. Chocolate upon chocolate, covered with chocolate sauce and chocolate sprinkles. Her stomach growled just looking at it.

“Seriously?” Nico asked a moment later, standing in front of the table with her eyebrows raised.

Eli gave a sheepish smile, setting the spoon down next to her half-finished sundae. “I didn’t want it to melt.”

“Yeah, sure.” Nico scooted into her seat, rolling her eyes as she picked up her own spoon. “I’m never getting ice cream with you again. What a lack of manners.”

“Sure, sure.” Eli let one more mouthful of deliciousness melt on her tongue before continuing. “Hey, Nico?”

“Yeah?”

“…never mind.”

Nico looked at her in confusion, then shrugged and licked the stray star clinging to the edge of her lip. Eli swallowed hard and turned away, her courage failing her. Suddenly she didn’t seem as hungry anymore.

~*~

“Hey, look at this.”

Nico stopped walking, pointing at the display in the window. Eli leaned over her shoulder to read the flyer.

“Dance classes? We’ve gotten very good at dancing, I don’t think we need any help.”

“Hell yeah, we’re the best dancers. But I’m looking below that. ‘Volunteers wanted for ballet performance.’”

Eli tried to hide the way her body tensed at the word, stepping backwards as if the paper could hurt her.

“That’s interesting.”

“It’s more than interesting! It’s a great opportunity. Come on, let’s go inside and ask for more information.”

“Wait, Nico.”

“What?”

Eli fidgeted in place, mouth opening and closing helplessly as she tried to find the words she wanted. Nico waited impatiently, hands on her hips. What was taking so long? She knew how much Eli loved ballet, remembered clearly the longing in her voice when talking about her parents’ career.

“What’s the problem?”

“…I don’t think it’s a good idea. For me to do it, I mean.”

“And why not?”

Eli didn’t respond.

“Come on, you like ballet, don’t you? You love it. This will be a fun, easy thing to do. No problems at all. And you can show off all your amazing moves.”

“They aren’t amazing.”

“Says who?”

“Every judge I ever met.”

Nico had to pause at that. Eli was still staring straight ahead, gaze fixed on the flyer, but there a thousand different emotions running through her eyes. Nico couldn’t argue with her words. Any excuse she came up with would be shot down immediately, and Nico couldn’t blame her.

But she also couldn’t give up that easily.

Maybe Eli hadn’t been a great dancer all those years ago, but there was no way that still held true. All she needed was an opportunity, a chance to prove to herself that she was talented. And here it was, standing right in front of her. Despite everything that was happening, despite the fact that Nico could feel everything between them straining and threatening to collapse, she refused to let Eli miss out on this.

“What’s your problem? What are you scared of? What do you think is going to happen?” She pushed the questions at Eli, one after another, until finally Eli tore her gaze away from the flyer and glared down at her.

“And what about you?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve been acting strange all day, what’s _your_ problem?”

“I- That’s…” Nico bit her lip, looking down at the floor. She didn’t have an answer to give.

“I’m sorry, Nico, but I’m not as strong as you,” Eli finally said. “I failed. I can’t go back. It’s over.”

“But-“

“Come on, let’s keep moving.”

Eli starting walking. Nico reached out to her, trying to grab her arm and bring her back. But she stopped half way, fingers hanging in the air, impossibly far from Eli’s back.

~*~

They ended up in a dress shop. They wandered through the aisles, idly brushing the fabrics they passed with a barely curious gaze. There was no need for dresses right now, no events to go to or reason to dress up. But when did Nico ever let that stop her? She could feel the tense atmosphere between them, the way the air felt thick and heavy. Eli was stiff, shoulders hunched and arms tight by her side.

She was right.

Nico had been acting strange all day, and she was well aware of it. But what was she supposed to do? Eli wasn’t much better, giving her so many mixed signals. Nico sighed. She was just making excuses, wasn’t she? It wasn’t like she was any better.

That didn’t matter now. Well, it did, but Nico didn’t want to deal with it. So instead she fell back to her number one skill: making people smile. She looked around the store, taking in everything she could see, and finally found what she was looking for.

“Come on!” She grabbed Eli’s arm, ignoring the surprised yelp she received, and pulled her over to the wall. “You gotta try one of these on.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes, really. Did you think I was kidding? No arguing allowed.”

Eli sighed. “Alright, alright. I’ll do it.” She looked over the selection of floor length evening gowns and finally selected a deep blue one, the low neckline covered with rhinestones. She pulled it off the rack and held it up, frowning as she saw the extra material pool on the ground. “I don’t think I’m tall enough for this.”

“What did I say about arguing?”

“I’m not-“

“Sh. Stop stalling and go put it on.”

With the shake of her head and a small laugh, Eli headed over to the fitting room. Nico sat on the couch outside, leg bouncing idly as she waited. There was soft music playing on the radio, some cheesy song about destined love. Nico hummed along.

Soft footsteps stopped right in front of her, and Nico opened her eyes to see Eli’s sheepish smile. The dress complimented her eyes perfectly, the fabric rich with color. It wrapped gracefully around her body, hugging her curves as it flowed to her feet. Rhinestones sparkled in the light – Eli shone even brighter. Nico wondered dimly when it had gotten so hard to breathe.

“You look beautiful.”

Eli looked away at that, a faint blush tinging her cheeks as she ran a hand awkwardly through her hair.

“It doesn’t even fit properly. It’s way too long, even if I wore heels with it.”

“So? Who cares. Not like we’re buying anything. You still look great.”

Eli only blushed harder at that. Nico didn’t want to risk pushing the subject, not again, so she quickly changed tactics. “Here, wait here, I’ll be right back.”

Eli watched in confusion as Nico darted away back into the store. All of her questions were answered a moment later when Nico returned with her own evening gown, flashing a smile and wink as she disappeared into the dressing room. Eli stared after her in disbelief. There was no way that was going to work.

Sure enough, Nico came out swamped in the hot pink dress, fabric trailing behind her. But Nico had a confident expression anyways, as if she was walking down the runway of a fashion show. And maybe in her world she was. Eli smiled and clapped as Nico posed for her.

“Thank you, thank you! World famous model Nico Nii appreciates all compliments. I’ll accept my money now- ah!” Nico stumbled as she tripped on the excess fabric, barely staying upright. Eli giggled at the display.

“World famous model you may be, but I think you need to hire a new wardrobe manager.”

“Yeah? And what makes you say that?” Nico crossed her arms over her chest, trying to subtly hold the fabric up. In hindsight, maybe a strapless dress wasn’t the best idea. Especially one several sizes too big.

“Just a feeling. But come on, we should change out of these before we get yelled at.”

“That’s no fun.”

The dresses were returned to their places anyways, despite Nico’s numerous jokes about buying hers. Eli rolled her eyes at them, but she couldn’t help the smile tugging at her lips.

“Okay, next plan,” Nico said. “Meet me back in here five minutes with the worst outfit you can possibly find.”

“The worst? Why?”

“It’ll be funny. Just trust me on this.”

“If you say so.”

Nico gave her a thumbs up before disappearing into the rows and rows of dresses. Eli watched her for a moment, then turned around to explore the other side of the store. There were plenty of choices to choose from, dozens of gaudy dresses and brightly colored accessories. Eli grabbed the first thing that caught her eye, grimacing as she looked at the neon yellow fabric. The large green stars placed haphazardly across the dress did nothing to help. Eli was almost embarrassed just to be seen carrying it around.

There were still several minutes left until she had to reconvene with Nico, so Eli headed over to the stand of fake jewelry. She was almost there when another dress caught her eye. It was a beautiful dress, not fit for this challenge, but she couldn’t help but pull it out to see it better anyways. She ran her hands down the smooth fabric, marveling at the light blue color.  There was no reason to wear it, given that Eli never went to the formal dances the school put on, but she couldn’t help but want it anyways.

Eli shook her head, pulling herself out of her thoughts. She didn’t have time for wistful thoughts. Heading over to rack of jewelry, she grabbed the largest, gaudiest pendant she found and strode back to the dressing room. Nico was already there, waiting on the couch impatiently with her random assortment of clothes.

“There you are!” She jumped to her feet, smiling wide in excitement. “I found the best thing. Stay here while I change, you’re gonna love it.”

She rushed into the dressing room, Eli smiling in amusement after her. It was nice to finally see Nico so full of energy. She set her assortment of items on the couch and waited, wondering what disaster Nico had chosen to wear. She wasn’t disappointed.

Nico returned a moment later, parading out of the dressing. She winked at Eli, twirling around to show off her ensemble. All Eli could do was stare helplessly, until, slowly, a laugh bubbled through her, bursting out until she was clutching her stomach, shoulders shaking.

“What? Come on, I look amazing!” Nico was struggling to keep a straight face, fighting to fake a frown. She brushed her hair back with a flippant gesture, adjusting the bright pink feather boa thrown over her shoulders. It clashed horribly with the blue-green sequin dress clinging to her body. It was supposed to be a tight dress in the first place, but Nico had chosen one two sizes too small, and Eli wasn’t quite sure how she was breathing.

“You definitely are a sight,” she agreed, shaking her head in amusement. “Hold on, I’ll change too.”

Nico dissolved into laughter when Eli returned in her neon dress. Eli didn’t attempt to act proud, knew it would be a hopeless attempt, and simply laughed along with her as she looked in the mirror. They were quite a pair, Nico sparkling underneath the feather boa and Eli blinding in her highlighter colored dress.

When their giggled receded Nico snapped a picture, promising to send it to Eli. She also sent it to Nozomi, and Eli watched in horror as Nozomi simply replied with a picture of herself winking. They were both in trouble now.

Still, it might be worth it, Eli thought as she smiled at the picture, reminding herself to save it to her phone later.

~*~

Eli was halfway across the mall when she realized that Nico was no longer behind her. She stopped short, nearly crashing into the people around her. Standing on her tiptoes to look around the area did nothing; there was no sign of her anywhere. Eli held back her curses, sighing heavily instead and turning around to retrace her steps.

Her phone was dead, as another attempt to turn it on reminded her. Manual searching it was, then. But where to start? The mall was huge, multileveled and filled with stores. They’d been to at least a dozen already, she couldn’t search every one of them. She’d have to think logically.

Where would Nico go? Not the desert place; that was too crowded, and it ran the risk of getting pulled into eat more food.  Probably not the dress shop. The employees had already been giving them distasteful looks for playing around so much. But then again, that could be the reason Nico went back. Sometimes she loved antagonizing people.

Eli sighed at the thought. Nico could be such a handful. It wasn’t the time for that though. Putting the dress shop in the back of her mind, Eli finally decided on the idol store. It seemed a likely choice; it wasn’t too crowded, and Nico could browse for more music while she waited.

Nearly ten minutes of pushing through the crowd and half jogging across the mall were wasted as Eli stared at the store. Nico wasn’t there. Of course she wasn’t, that would just be too easy. It was all Eli could do to keep from groaning out loud.  How did this mess even happen? Nico wasn’t that short, really, and she could definitely keep up with Eli’s longer strides. She wasn’t quiet either, by any standard, so the moment she got separated she would have been sure to call out and grab Eli’s attention.

 An idea rose out of her tangled thoughts, pushed forward by the worry she’d been hiding away all afternoon. Eli tried to shove it down, tried to ignore it, but it refused to leave. What if Nico had left? What if she disappeared into the crowd on purpose, hoping to avoid notice and escape?

No. Eli shut down the idea, shaking her head and curling her hands into fists. Nico wouldn’t do that. There was no way. Eli spun around abruptly, striding away from the idol store and across the mall. Nico was in here somewhere, waiting for her, and she was going to find her.

And, finally, she did.

Eli spotted the telltale twintails through a crack in the crowd, and she could practically feel a weight lift off her shoulders. There Nico was, leaning against the wall, tapping idly away at her phone as her eyes searched the crowd. She caught sight of Eli and brightened, pushing off the wall to meet her.

“Finally! I’ve been waiting forever. What took you so long? Don’t tell me you only just realized I was missing.”

“No, no, I’ve known for a while.” Eli gave an apologetic smile, trying to hide her embarrassment. “I’ve been running around the mall looking for you for the last half hour.”

“Seriously? Why?”

“…What do you mean, why? To find you, of course.”

Nico rolled her eyes, sighing loudly. “Well I knew that much. I meant why were you running around? You could have just retraced your steps, I haven’t moved at all.”

Eli paused as she took in the information, forced to admit that Nico had a very good point. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. I found you.”

“Sure it doesn’t. But,” and Nico grinned widely at this, forcing a shiver to run down Eli’s back, “guess what? You came back.”

Eli stared at her in confusion, so Nico pointed a thumb at the wall behind her. They were back at the flyer. The colorful ballerina stood out against the white paper, and Eli wondered how she had missed it earlier.

“I told you that you’d come back,” Nico was saying, “and the great Nico Nii is never wrong!”

“You planned this,” Eli said, but she couldn’t force any anger into her voice. Nico was smiling, her whole face bright, and all Eli could feel was relief that she was still standing in front of her, that she hadn’t abandoned her.

Nico shrugged. “Maybe. Does it matter though? You’re still here. And that means you have to sign up now.”

“Maybe. I’ll think about it.”

“Really? I mean of course you would, who would turn down my advice? I know what I’m talking abo- wait, what are you doing?”

“Making sure we don’t get separated again, of course.” Eli squeezed Nico’s hand, smiling as Nico goggled at their interlocked fingers. “Come on, we still have more things to do, don’t we? The day isn’t over yet.”

Eli stepped back into the crowd, tugging the still shocked Nico behind her.

~*~

Eli’s hand was warm. She grabbed Nico’s automatically now, whenever they left a store, and Nico couldn’t find a way to protest. If she was being honest, she liked the feeling, liked the way Eli pulled her closer when the crowd threatened to divide them.

Nico couldn’t help but remember the kiss from two weeks ago. Her cheek still tingled when she thought of it, a blush threatening to rise on her face. But it quelled the moment she remembered the half full box of chocolates sitting on Eli’s desk.

She need to ask Eli about it. She tried to, starting and stopping herself a dozen times on the elevator ride to the rooftop. But Nico was too scared of the answer. She didn’t want these meetings to end, wanted them to grow instead, becoming even more grand and wonderful.  That meant talking to Eli. Nico couldn’t put it off any longer, couldn’t pretend that Eli would understand without words.

Not today though, she decided as the elevator dinged and the doors open. She and Eli stepped out onto the rooftop, the cold breeze slicing through their jackets. Nico shivered as they walked to the edge, trying to avoid leaning into Eli for warmth. She wasn’t going to sink that low.

“Look at that,” Eli breathed, her voice filled with wonder, and Nico finally looked out over the city spread before them. All tension drained from her body as absorbed the beautiful sight.

The sun had set while they were wandering the mall, the sky a deep blue fading to black. The city was illuminated by streetlights and windows and storefronts, an endless maze of glowing dots. Cars rolled down the streets, tiny specks against the ground. This high up, the sounds of the city were muted and muffled, barely heard over the insistent whisper of the wind.

The stars were brightening as the sky darkened. Nico spotted Orion easily, the three stars of his belt shining strong. That was where her constellation knowledge ended, so she simple took in the myriad of dots above her head.

Eli squeezed her hand as she stared out at the scene in awe, dragging Nico’s thoughts away from the brilliance and back to the troubles plaguing her. It felt like a date, standing so close together under the stars. Nico desperately wanted it to be. She wondered if it ever could be.

“Well, I think the day turned out well, despite the lack of planning,” Eli said, smiling down at Nico. “Don’t you?”

Nico was quiet for a long moment. She stared out at the city below them, watching the lights twinkle in time with the stars above.

“Yeah,” she finally said. “It was fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CD references: The first one (the anime one) is songs from Nanjo Yoshino's band FripSide. Nanjo is Eli's voice actress. The second one, Blooming, is a CD from Uchida Aya, Kotori's voice actress. The last one is Pile's (Maki) and Riho Iida's (Rin) group 4to6.


	8. Park

Nico was just finishing up lunch when the doorbell rang. She paused, sponge still hanging in her hand as she stood over the sink, and turned around to look down the hallway. Her siblings were still out, and she didn't really want them answering the door in the first place, so she set down the dirty dish and wiped her hands on the towel, heading over to the door and sighing loudly. Didn’t her neighbors know she had things to be doing?

Eli was the last person she expected to see standing outside, grinning broadly and waving a little as Nico stared dumbfounded.

"What are you doing here?"

"I didn't feel like waiting for you to come over, so I decided to come pick you up instead."

Nico held back her swear. She had been debating on even going over to Eli's house today, had planned on using her homework as an excuse, but Eli had taken the matter out of her hands.

"You're still in your uniform. Did you even go home?"

"No. I grabbed lunch at a little shop nearby and came straight here. I told you, I didn't want to wait."

"Ugh, fine. Give me a moment, I'll be right out."

Eli breathed a sigh of relief as Nico shut the door. She fidgeted with the strap of her bag, conscious of the box tucked within. All day she had been plagued with thoughts of Nico rejecting her. This wasn't the plan, but with the way last week had gone, Eli wasn't sure if their usual plan would even hold. She wasn't going to let Nico run away. That wasn't an option, not after this long. Today, finally, they would sit down and talk. They were almost out of chances; Love Live was coming up soon, graduation right after, and who knew what would happen then. The time for waiting and watching was over. Everything needed to become clear now.

Nico took only a moment to reappear, a pink cat bag swinging from her shoulder. She looked disgruntled, her eyebrows slightly furrowed and the corners of her lips turned down. But her voice was pleasant enough as she led the way out of the building, so Eli paid it no mind.

"So what's the plan?"

"I don't really have one."

"What? You can't come all the way over here only to make me decide. What kind of jerk move is that?"

Eli laughed. "No, no, I didn't mean it that way. I was thinking we could go to the park and just hang out, but I don't have a concrete plan for something to do while we're there. It's a nice day though, so I thought it would be fun."

Nico had to agree; it was unusually warm for the middle of March, winter's hold slipping for a moment. There was a warm breeze stirring the bud covered branches, puffy white clouds floating slowly across the pale blue sky. The air was still cool, but just warm enough that Nico had forgone a jacket, stepping outside in a simple long sleeve shirt and skirt. Eli was in the summer uniform already, a light sweater thrown over her shoulders to combat the slight chill she still felt.

"So," Nico started, eyes roaming the street as she looked for something to talk about. She came up blank. "How are things, uh, going?"

Eli looked amused, a small smile on her face. "Fairly good, it seems. And you?"

"Fine, fine." Nico waved away the question, refusing to look at Eli. God, this was so awkward. Why did Eli have to do this?

Luckily Eli seemed to take pity on her, starting a conversation a moment later.

"Love Live is coming soon. Are you ready?"

"...I don't know." Nico looked up at the sky, chewing the inside of her cheek. She didn't want to talk about it, really, but with Eli the words came out naturally anyways. "It feels unreal, you know? All of this work, and now it's here."

"Yeah, I get what you mean." Eli sighed, a faraway look in her eyes. "I feel the same. I never would have believed this could happen all those months ago, but we've made so much progress. I'm sure it's even stronger for you, given how long you've been looking forward to this."

Nico didn't answer. They turned into the park, the tall buildings fading into the background as trees took their place, mighty oaks with bare branches and graceful willows sweeping low over the pond. They took a seat near one of them, the wooden bench still cold. Ripples spread lazily across the surface of the water, stirred onward by the breeze. There was an emptiness to the pond, the clouds reflected flat on the pond and the birds gone for the winter. It echoed inside Nico, the hollow feeling of a wonderful dream about to end.

"I'm going to miss it," she finally admitted, both to herself and the empty pond. "I love dancing and singing with everyone. I don't want it to end."

Eli sat still and quiet, gazing softly at Nico and wishing she had words of comfort to share. But everything ended, they both knew that; it was a matter of acceptance, and Eli couldn't help with that.

"My first year feels so long ago now," Nico said. "All those days of waiting with flyers, then the year after where I sat alone in the room. We've made so memories in there now, and sometimes I wonder how I could bare to leave them behind."

A child's laughter floated across the air from the playground nearby, a mother's warning call following right after. There was the faint smell of winter hanging in the air, sharp and crisp. Eli breathed it in - it reminded her of home, tucked away in a small Russian village - and let it out.

"We won't leave them behind,” she said. “We'll carry those memories with us forever, and our friendship won't end. Change, maybe, but it will never end."

Nico paused a moment before answering, and when she did she slumped back into the bench, her tension melting away like snow in spring. "Should've known you'd say something like. Clever and cute Elichka, always the romantic. Come on, let's go do something."

She jumped to her feet and spun around, leaving Eli blinking in surprise. It took her only a moment to match Nico's grin as she pushed herself off the bench.

"Where are we going?"

"No clue. Let's find out."

Eli laughed, Nico smirking as they followed the path around the pond. They came across a vendor setting up her stand, the smell of hot chocolate and warm sugary crepes calling them in. Moments later and they were munching on the treats, letting the warmth fill them as they wandered around the park.

“So, Eli.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever order something _not_ covered in chocolate?”

“Absolutely not.” Eli grinned, taking a big bite of her triple chocolate crepe. Nico hadn’t known that you could even fit that much chocolate in a crepe, but given that it was Eli she wasn’t that surprised.

“Someday you’re gonna get sick from all that.”

“Oh, I already have, believe me.”

“I don’t think I want to know this story.”

Eli laughed softly, shaking her head and taking another bite. Nico watched her sigh at the sweet taste, eyes closed in bliss. It was cute, Eli’s love of chocolate, and Nico smiled to herself as she took a bite of her own crepe. It was shaping up to be a good day. The sun was bright, the air warm, the breeze brushing gently against her skin. All of her worries seemed to have disappeared in the good weather. She looked up at the sound of honking, smiling as she spotted the flock of geese.

“Hey, Eli?”

“Hmm?”

“What’s your favorite kind of bird?”

“I… don’t know?” Eli frowned at Nico, trying to puzzle out the meaning behind the question. “Why?”

“Why not? Birds are great! I bet you’d like, I don’t know, a puffin? Those live up in Russia right?”

“I have absolutely no idea. Probably somewhere, Russia’s pretty big. But I guess… penguins, maybe?”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, I think I’d go with penguins.” Eli nodded to herself, chewing her lip as she thought. “They look cute, and the way they waddle around is pretty funny. I like watching them slide around at the zoo.”

“Heh, of course you would.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, nothing.” Nico waved away the question, but her wide grin didn’t ease up Eli’s suspicion.

“What’s your favorite bird, then?”

“Guess.”

“Um. A flamingo, maybe? Those are pink, you like pink. Or… a hummingbird? Cause they’re cute, but also really small.”

“Wow, okay. First of all, _rude_. Way to go, Ayase. But both guesses are wrong. My favorite birds are geese.”

“Really? I wouldn’t have expected that. Why?”

Nico turned her head up, pointing towards the flock above them. Most of the birds were in a V shape, all following the point, but a few stragglers had appeared.

“You see how none of those birds are alone? You have that big group, of course, but even the ones that fell behind are still together. The geese do that on purpose. If one bird gets injured or tired, others will drop back to take care of them. And all that honking is them calling to each other, saying ‘keep going’ and ‘you’re doing great’. No matter what happens, geese are always there for each other.”

“They’re just like an idol group, huh?”

Nico turned to Eli in surprise, amazed she had figured it out so easily. Eli just gave her a gentle smile.

“We do the same things,” she said, “helping each other out. We slowed the dance down when Hanayo was having trouble with the steps, showing her exactly what to do until she was confident enough to go at normal speed. And when Nozomi was having trouble with the song a couple weeks ago, we went over to her apartment and sang with her the whole night until she got it. We don’t let anyone fall behind.”

“Yeah. Yeah, that’s it exactly.” Nico smiled wide, a strange sort of happy relief filling her. “You’re pretty smart sometimes, you know that?”

“I like to think so, yes. I have known you for nearly a year, after all.”

“And yet you still think my favorite things depend solely on the color pink.”

“Okay, well, you see.”

“Yeah?”

“…I don’t really have an excuse for that.”

“That’s what I thought.”

~*~

They ended up at the playground, leaning against the fence and watching little kids run around, all bundled up in their coats and hats. A dog ran among them, barking happily.

“Remember when we were this young?” Eli asked. “I used to go to the playground with Arisa all the time when we were kids. It feels so long ago.”

“It really does, doesn’t it? You’re lucky though, my siblings were never old enough to play with me, I had to go make friends. And by make friends I mean convince a bunch of kids to follow me around.”

“So you were a little playground bully, huh?”

“Of course! I had plans, you know? I needed people to listen to me.”

“Did it ever work?”

“Hell yeah it did!” Nico grinned, her eyes bright as she remembered all her past conquests. “I just told them all that I was famous, and if they followed my lead I would return the favor someday and give them money. Those suckers fell for it every time.”

Eli laughed, shaking her head in exasperation and amusement. “You were some child. Come on, let’s go in.” She pushed open the gate and stepped inside the courtyard, heading straight for the empty swings. Nico followed right behind, waving and smiling at all the little kids that looked at them. They sat down next to each other, lazy swinging their legs to get the seat moving. Little kid laughter surrounded them, bright as day.

“I used to love swinging, when I was younger,” Eli said, leaning back in her swing and letting momentum carry her back and forth.

“Yeah?”

Eli stared wistfully up at the clouds, stretching a hand up as if she could touch them. “I used to think that if I swung hard enough, I would be able to reach the sky. So I would spend hours and hours swinging, always trying to get higher and higher.”

“Did you ever make it?”

“No. But sometimes I would jump off the swing, right when I was at the top, and for a brief moment it would feel like flying. Not very long, of course, and a second later I would be on the ground, but those few seconds made it all worth it.”

“Heh, you were a cute kid.”

“What?”

Nico grinned at Eli’s surprise. “Come on, you gotta admit that’s cute! I can picture it, tiny baby you swinging and swinging, not knowing that swing sets are designed so you can’t get too high. Just adorable.”

“Nico!” Eli hid her face in her hands as Nico laughed, groaning in embarrassment. She didn’t look up until she was jerked to a stop, Nico grabbing onto her swing with a grin. “What are you doing?”

“We’re going to the moon!”

Before Eli could respond, Nico grabbed the chains of the swing and started pulling her backwards, as far back as she could go. Then she pushed Eli forward, running along with the swing and jumping onto it at the last second, feet digging into Eli’s sides.

“Come on, Eli, swing! Use those long legs of yours!” Nico was laughing wildly; Eli was gripping onto the chains for dear life. She started swinging anyways, rocking the seat back and forth as Nico’s weight threw her off. They began slow but soon picked up speed, climbing higher and higher into the air.

“We’re going to die, I hope you know that. We’re going to die and it’s all your fault, Nico.”

“Maybe so, but at least we’re having fun! Smile, Eli! We’re gonna reach that sky together, just you wait!”

~*~                  

They got ice cream this time, confused by the stand setting up in the middle of March but warm enough from the unusually spring like day to choose it anyways. Eli got chocolate again, predictably, despite Nico’s teasing; Nico wondered if she was doing it out of sheer stubbornness now.

“You’re not any better,” Eli said as they sat down at the edge of the pond to eat their treats, “you got strawberry ice cream.”

“And what’s wrong with strawberry?”

“It’s pink.”

“So? Pink is great.”

“Didn’t you say not to assume you liked things just because they were pink?”

“Yeah, probably, but who said you should listen to that? Pink is the best color, of course I’m going to love everything pink!”

“You’re impossible.” Eli sighed dramatically, hiding her smile behind her ice cream when Nico shot her a glare.

“Sure. And what’s your favorite color, huh? Light blue?”

“Orange, actually.” Eli smiled at Nico’s dumbfounded look, stifling a laugh. But her eyes went soft as she held the color in her mind, and something tugged at Nico’s heart.

“Sometimes in the afternoon,” Eli was saying, “when the season is right, the sun coming through my window is a beautiful orange. It’s warm and bright, and it makes everything feel more like home, you know? It makes me feel like everything is right in the world. Like no matter what happens, even if everything goes wrong that day, I can come home to that orange room and feel at peace again.”

Nico laid back on the grass, head resting on her arms as she closed her eyes, feeling the warm breeze brush past her. “You’re a dork, you know that? Good thing you’re cute.”

“I- what?”

Nico’s smile grew bigger as she heard the stammer in Eli’s voice, picturing the flush creeping up on her face.

“You heard me.”

“Ugh, why do I hang out with you?” Eli’s voice was muffled as she buried her face in her hands, questioning all of her choices.

“Because you can’t resist me, of course! I’m just too amazing.”

“Sure you are.”

Nico laughed at Eli’s attempted retort; Eli just shook her head. Then it was quiet, Nico listening to the sounds of the grass rustling and distant geese honking. It was a good day, the sun warm above her and Eli warm beside her, her presence a calm constant in the hectic days leading up to Love Live. She was the most patient of the group, beating out Nozomi and even Kotori’s endless sweetness. No matter what was happening, whether they were stuck on difficult choreography or awkward singing transition, Eli was always there to lend a helping hand. Nico admired her for it, wished she could do the same. No matter how hard she tried, she just wasn’t as good with people as she wanted to be. Too harsh, too rude, too focused on her own goals. It had driven people away from her, time and time again. But not Eli.

Eli had never left. Nico remembered giving her a hard time, those first few weeks after Eli had joined muse, cringing again as she recalled how she had lashed out unfairly, frustrated with Eli’s natural talents and annoyed by her superior attitude. Eli took it all in stride, never holding it against her. Even now, she never got upset over Nico’s abrasiveness.

Everything Nico did, no matter how rude or obnoxious, didn't seem to matter to Eli at all. Eli truly was a saint, calm and patient and funny and sweet and caring. It hadn't taken long for Nico to fall in love with her, though it had taken many months after that for her to finally admit it. And now she was stuck. She had fallen too hard, too fast, and she didn't know what to do. She laid in bed every morning, wondering if that would be the day she worked up the courage to confess. Every night she went back to sleep, frustrated with her own cowardice and wondering if it would ever change.

These Saturdays they spent together had been an idea born of desperation, a wild hope that spending time alone with Eli would finally drive her to explain her feelings. Sometimes they almost worked, other times they seemed to push her farther away. And now time was running out. In two more weeks they would perform at Love Live. Graduation was only a few days later, and from there on they entered unknown territory. What would university be like? Would they all get into the same one, given Eli's perfect grades and Nico's rather abysmal ones? Would there be time to meet up, to sit and talk and play around? Nico didn't know. The future scared her. She didn't know anything, no one did, but she knew that she was running out of chances.

"Hey, Nico?"

Eli's voice cut through Nico's thoughts, halting the tendrils of fear that had started to rip through her good mood. There was something odd in her voice though, and Nico's heart seemed to skip a beat in worry. She pushed herself up with her elbows, frowning as she took in Eli's unreadable expression. She was watching something with a distant look, brow slightly furrowed and teeth digging into her lip. Nico followed her gaze across the pond, spotting a couple in matching sweaters sitting on the bench. The boy held a box in his hands, pushing it towards the girl. She took it, unwrapping it gently and gasping as she saw was inside. Nico couldn't help but smile at the expression of pure joy on her face as she hugged her boyfriend.

Eli wasn't smiling. Her hands were clenched, fingers digging into the damp dirt. Nico felt the worry return, even stronger, and she sat up all the way to watch Eli better.

"What's up?"

A thousand thoughts ran through Nico's head in the pause Eli took before she answered, each growing worse and worse. As much as she hated the question Eli finally asked, she couldn't help but be relieved when comparing it to her own expectations.

"Why were you acting weird last week, at the mall? Was something wrong?" And then, even more hesitant: "Did I do something wrong?"

Nico sat up even straighter at that, rushing to reassure Eli before even considering her words. "No, no, not at all! It was all me, I swear, I'm just an idiot, I promise!"

"You're not an idiot."

"That's not the point, Eli. You didn't do anything wrong, it was just me and my thoughts."

"What thoughts? Something was bothering, you right?" Eli still wasn't looking at her, but Nico still hesitated before answering. Was she still such a coward, after all this? Nico was forced to admit that yeah, she really was. She wrapped her arms around herself, resting her chin on her knees and staring at the water.

"You know, you said something last week. When we were looking at that ballet poster, remember? You said you weren't as strong as me." Nico paused, gathering her thoughts. Eli let her. "I don't think that's true. I think you're the strongest person I know. At the very least, you're stronger than me."

"I'm not. You take risks, talk to people, try new things. I have to be pushed to do anything new. If it weren't for Nozomi, I'd still be sitting at home every day, wasting time by giving myself endless amounts of work."

"You still sit at home and do endless amounts of work though."

"Well, yes, but now I spend the week practicing and dancing and singing with everyone. And now I spend Saturdays out of the house with you, and that's all because you decided to start it. I would never have reached out to you like that. The fact that you did, that you go out of your way to come up with plans that will entertain us - I admire that ability a lot."

"That's not strength, though. That's just... me being me, I guess. And you being you. You're an interesting person, you know? I like spending time with you."

Eli hummed softly in response. Nico wondered what that meant. She wondered if Eli could hear her pounding heart. A heavy atmosphere had settled over them, cold and thick as if it blocked out the sun. The ripples spreading across the wind kissed pond seemed to gray, the blue sky dimmer than before. Nico licked her lips, tasted the fading memory of strawberry ice cream, and decided to shove aside her pride in exchange for making Eli smile again.

"Alright, here's the plan," she said, and the decisiveness in her voice made Eli finally turn to her. "I'll answer your question about the mall if you answer one of mine. Sound fair?"

"Should I be concerned about what this question is going to be?" Eli narrowed her eyes, and Nico couldn't help but smile at the surge of relief that rushed through her, seeing Eli already turning back to normal.

"Nah, of course not. I just want to know why you haven't finished the chocolates I gave you for Valentine’s Day."

Nico had expected Eli to tense up, or blush, or stammer, or at the very least look guilty. Instead she just laughed as her shoulders relaxed. At least she smiled afterward, so Nico couldn't complain too much.

"You're right, that wasn't a bad question at all. I've just been saving them. They're delicious, some of the best chocolate I've ever had, so I didn't want to waste them."

"Oh." In hindsight, that made a lot of sense. Nico wanted to kick herself for getting so worked up about it. Now she really was an idiot. But she pushed those thoughts aside, still concerned about one other detail. "If that's the case, then why didn't you say anything about them? You never once said thank you."

Now Eli was starting to look guilty, hesitating before she spoke. "... Was I supposed to?"

"What do you mean, were you supposed to? Of course you were! That's called being polite. Also common sense."

"Sorry, sorry." Eli gave an apologetic smile, and it really did look genuine. "Valentine’s Day is a little different here than in Russia, so I must have mixed it up. I thought... well, you have White Day here, right? I thought my thank you was supposed to be giving you a gift in return. And you were so secretive about the chocolates, so I didn't realize I was supposed to thank you directly."

"...I guess that's fair." Nico sighed. It was so hard to be frustrated around Eli. She always had a good reason for her mistakes, sometimes it was more annoying than the actual mess up. "Cultural mix ups must be a pain, huh?"

"The definitely can be. But..." Eli coughed into her hand, sitting up straighter and looking Nico right in the eyes. "Thank you for the chocolates, Nico. I have finished them now, and they were delicious. I loved them."

Nico swore her heart melted faster than chocolate on a warm day at Eli's brilliant smile. She turned away, hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt. "You're, uh, you're welcome. I'm glad you enjoyed them. I... can make them again. You know, if you want."

"I would love that. Maybe you could show me how? I enjoyed cooking with you a month ago, so doing it again would be fun."

"Only if you buy a rice cooker."

"Deal."  Eli smiled, and Nico returned the grin. The sun was warm again, a few brave birds chirping in the trees. Eli felt herself relaxing, soaking in the beautiful day. She still needed to hear Nico's answer to her question, but she allowed herself a moment of peace before pressing the subject. Sitting next to Nico, watching the breeze catch her slightly curled hair and seeing her smile at the sensation- it filled Eli with a feeling she couldn't describe. It just felt right, being next to her, no matter what they were doing.

That's why she had agreed to go on all these adventures in the first place. Nico had pushed her, yes, but she could have refused, citing work or fatigue. And yet whenever she thought about it, whenever she considered pushing Nico away so she could spend her days alone, something stopped her. Every time they walked beside each other, every time they laughed over a joke or shared stories, Eli felt her heart beat faster, pounding out a strange rhythm. It felt like a dance, the two of them partners in an ever swaying pattern of words and soft touches. A push one moment, a pull the next, always coming ever closer at a slow, uneven pace.

It would be a beautiful dance, Eli was sure, if she was not the one caught up in it all. It was improv, this dance, something she was never good at. The only direction was the tug of her heart, the need to see Nico's sunny smile no matter the cost. It drove her faster and faster, spinning her in circles until she was dizzy and her mind was pounding and the only thought that made any sense at all was the fact the she needed Nico in her life, needed to hold her close and listen to her sing and do anything, anything remotely possible to keep her happy.

"Hey, Nico?" Eli smiled as Nico looked up, reaching into her bag and handing her a small black box. "Happy White Day."

Nico froze, fingers brushing the top of the box and eyes growing wide. "You didn't."

"That's what I'm supposed to do, right? You gave me chocolates for Valentine’s Day, so I'm supposed to give a gift in return for White Day. Or did I do it wrong again?"

"...No, you did it right. But this is a pretty small box, you realize. You're supposed to give something three times as great as my chocolates! I won't settle for this small an amount."

If Eli had learned anything over the past year, it was that Nico covered up her nervousness with jokes and a sense of self entitlement. Her hands were shaking, just barely, as she took the box.

"Why don't you open it and see," Eli said, her words gentle. And Nico did, letting the cover tumble to the ground as she stared in disbelief.

"No way," she whispered. "You made this?"

"Of course. All it took was some beads, wire, and a pair of pliers. It may not be three times as great as your chocolate, but I had to try my best."

Nico swallowed hard, the trembles running down her arms now clearly visible as she lifted the necklace out of the box. It caught the light, the beads shining brightly. Nico ran her fingers along them, amazed at how the pink beads were shaped into hearts, white beads filling the middle. She didn’t know what to say. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

“Eli…”

“Here, I’ll help you put it on.”

Eli took the necklace from Nico's weak grasp and slipped it over her head. Her fingers were warm as they brushed against Nico's neck, and Nico couldn't help the light shiver that ran down her back. The necklace was a solid weight against her chest, falling just below her collarbone. She lifted a hand up to feel it, marveling in the smoothness of the beads.

“Thank you, Eli. It’s beautiful.”

The smile Eli gave her was even more beautiful, and Nico almost forgot the necklace in its entirety as she remembered just how gorgeous Eli was. Her hair fell perfectly around her face, her blue eyes warm and vibrant and glowing in pride and happiness. Nico felt all of her defenses crumbling at the sight.

“I was acting weird at the mall because of the chocolates,” Nico said, and Eli’s smile dropped at the sudden subject change. “I guess I was a little upset that you hadn’t eaten them, especially since you hadn’t mentioned them. And that would have been fine, maybe, but you remember the week before at the ice skating rink? You… I thought…”

Nico’s words caught in her throat. Her hands were balled up in her lap and she glared at them, as if they were the reason she couldn’t speak. Eli waited, brow furrowed in confusion as she tried to figure out what Nico was talking about. But she wasn’t going to figure it out on her own. Eli was too dense for that, too oblivious to other people’s feelings. If anything was going to happen, Nico needed to say it out loud.

So she did. She stared right at Eli when she said it, watched a myriad of emotions cross her face as her eyes widened and her mouth fell open.

“You what?”

“I want to be your girlfriend. And I want you to be mine.”

“I…”

“I was acting weird at the mall,” Nico said, rushing to explain herself before the regret and embarrassment caught up to her, “because when we went ice skating I joked about you being my love interest, and then you kissed me on the cheek before I went home. So I thought you liked me back, but then you didn’t eat all those chocolates, even though you love chocolate and eat it all within seconds. So I wondered if you didn’t after all, and I was wondering if all these weeks of hanging out and trying to work up the courage to ask you out were for nothing. So then we went to the mall, and I wasn’t sure what to do, but I could tell that you were trying so hard to have a good time and I wanted to make you smile, but every time you smile I fall harder for you, so I wanted to leave so I could figure out what the hell I wanted to do, but you’re always so kind and sweet that I couldn’t do it, and I just–”

Nico didn’t know when she had started crying, only that her hands were gripping Eli’s shirt as she pressed her face against her shoulder, Eli’s warm arms wrapped tight around her. She was murmuring something into Nico’s ear, words of comfort and apologies and other random things that Nico couldn’t make out in her distracted state. Her tears subsided into hiccups moments later, and Eli pulled back to rub her thumb against Nico’s cheek. Her eyes were wet too, but she had the most loving smile on her face Nico had ever seen.

“It’s okay, Nico. I want to be your girlfriend too.”

There was a pause, a beat of a silence as the breeze stilled and Nico processed the words, and then everything jolted back into motion. The relief that flooded through Nico’s body was only matched in strength by the elation that came rushing after it, filling her limbs and making her heart pound. The world seemed brighter, the sun shining stronger and the air lighter and the grass covering the park a brilliant shade of green. Eli seemed to be feeling the same joy, her cheeks tinged a soft rose pink as she gave a small, shy smile.

“I’ve always admired you, you know. You’re always determined, no matter what challenges you face, and you always try to smile. You make everyone else smile, too, so effortlessly, and I can’t help but be in awe at how you can turn everyone’s grumpiness around so fast. You’re clever, and funny, and cute, and passionate, and so many other things that I could never start to list them all or I would never be able stop. You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met. I would love to be your girlfriend.”

Eli leaned forward for another hug, resting her chin on Nico’s shoulder. Her whole body was tingling, as if she was filled with some boundless energy. It settled when Nico hugged her back and Eli relaxed into the embrace, feeling as if the world had just shifted into its proper place.

“You’re serious?” Nico asked, and her voice seemed so small and unsure that Eli hugged her even tighter.

“Yes. I’m completely serious, Nico.”

“Good. Good.” Nico was breathless as she pulled back, taking in the way the sunlight highlighted Eli’s hair and brought warmth to her face. She was stunned by the events, by the fact that everything had actually gone okay for once and that Eli was really here and smiling and her new girlfriend. Yet even as momentous an occasion as this was, Nico was not one who got stunned. She had a reputation to uphold after all, she couldn’t let her disbelief get the better of her.

“I mean, of course you would say yes! Who wouldn’t want to go on a date with the amazing Nico Nii? People are falling at my feet, begging to even be acknowledged. You should consider yourself lucky, Ayase Eli, not everyone gets such a great opportunity.”

Eli laughed, a pure, joy filled sound, and Nico’s grin grew so wide she could feel her cheeks hurting.

“Of course, of course. I’m truly honored. I’ll never forget this moment.” It was true, joking aside, and they both smiled at each other. Nico scooted closer to Eli, leaning her head on her shoulder as they gazed out across the deep blue pond. It truly was a beautiful day. Eli’s hand was warm and soft as she tangled their fingers together, squeezing Nico’s hand gently.

“So,” she asked, her eyes slowly closing as she rested her head on Nico’s, “what’s the plan for next Saturday?”


	9. Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter. I hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> The three songs are, in order: Lose It by Oh Wonder, Shut Up and Dance by Walk the Moon, and Just a Kiss by Lady Antebellum. The story will tell you when to play each song, if you want to follow along.

“Are you sure this was the best idea?” Maki asked, eyebrows raised and arms crossed as she looked at the swaying Nico.

“Of course! What could- woah- what could go wrong?” Nico stumbled a little in the tall heels, grabbing onto the bookshelf for balance. She centered herself, grinning as she took in the new view and the top of Maki’s head, before taking three perfect steps forward. “See? Nothing to it!”

“Uh huh. And just how long do you think that’s going to last?”

“Forever! Come on, I’m a professional!”

“Sure, sure. Now sit down before you fall and break your ankle. I don’t think Eli would enjoy that. And I still have to do your hair, anyways.”

“I’m still amazed you know anything about hair,” Nico said, kicking her heels off and plopping onto the bed. “Who would have thought that Maki, Princess of Work and Seriousness, would be an expert hair stylist?”

“I’m not an expert. I just took some tips from Kotori, she’s the one you should really be thanking.” Maki sat behind Nico and took hold of her hair, running the brush lightly through dark strands still damp from showering. The smell of strawberry shampoo lay thick over Nico’s shoulders as she leaned back into Maki’s careful strokes.

“Yeah, probably,” she said. “You’re getting tips though, huh? Are you sure it’s only tips? Come on, confess your feelings to your senior!”

“Wh-what? I have no idea what you’re talking about! It was just a friendly get together, I swear!”

“You can’t lie to me. A friendly get together every week? I know all about those!”

Maki tugged on Nico’s hair, fighting to keep a straight face at Nico’s yelp. “Sorry, knot.”

“Sure there was.” They sat in silence for a moment. Nico swung her legs idly, looking at the dress hanging in her closet. “Hey, Maki?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you think Eli’s going to like it?”

Maki paused, sighed, and set the brush aside. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know. I mean, she should! Who wouldn’t love the beautiful Nico Nii!”

“But you’re still nervous.”

“…Yeah. Maybe a little.” Nico slid off the bed and pulled the dress out, running her hands over the frills. The fabric was soft and light, and she imagined spinning in circles and feeling it float around her like clouds. She and Eli had been hanging out every week for over two months now, but this felt like their first real date. A mini prom, almost, between just the two of them.

It had been Eli’s idea, one of the few Nico forced her to come up with. She had seemed embarrassed about it, thought it was silly to get all dressed up for one short evening, but Nico had jumped at the idea. Now her stomach was the one jumping, doing flips every time Nico stopped for a moment to think about what was happening.

She was going on a date. A date with Eli. Eli, the girl of her dreams. Was she dreaming? She was pretty sure she was dreaming. There was no way this could be happening.

“Hey, Maki. Come over here and slap me.”

“No.”                                                                                               

“Aw, come on! What kind of friend are you?”

“The kind that’s been here since 1 in the afternoon even though you don’t need to leave until after 8, just to help you out and tell you when you’re being dumb. Speaking of, you’re being really dumb right now. Stop worrying and let me braid your hair.”

“Fine, fine.” Nico hopped back onto the bed, but the nervous energy filling her body didn’t want to settle down. “Maybe I’ll treat it like a live show.”

“What, so you can calm yourself down the same way?”

“Yeah! Take a few deep breaths, slap on a smile, and dance! No worries there, right?”

“Do you think Eli really wants that?”

“Huh?”

“Eli is your girlfriend because she likes you. The _genuine_ you, not the extra cutesy you or the famous idol you, but the you who gets overly competitive and is really caring and gets nervous before going on a fancy date. Anything else would be a lie, you know? And Eli doesn’t care for liars. Just be yourself and everything will turn out fine.”

Maki finished braiding Nico’s hair, tying the end neatly and throwing it over Nico’s shoulder. Nico reached a hand up to feel it automatically, fingers following the tight strands as they weaved around each other.

“You’re pretty smart for a 15 year old, you know?”

“I try. Now get that dress on, I refuse to be late after all this.”

“Of course. Gotta be on time for my first date!” Nico practically flew across the floor, grabbing the dress and twirling out of the room. She stopped just outside the door, poking her head back in and flashing Maki a smile. “And thanks.”

~*~

Eli was greeted with wolf whistles when she stepped into the room to show off her dress. She sighed and rolled her eyes, for really she had expected nothing less from Nozomi.

“Why did I ask you to come over again?”

“Cause you’re a nervous wreck over a simple date. Also because you can’t get rid of me.”

“Unfortunately. Anyways, what do you think?” Eli gave a little twirl, the dress swirling around her feet. “It’s kinda long, so I wasn’t really sure if it was too formal? But then there’s the slit on the side, that seems a little too… what’s the word…..”

“Sexy?”

“Yeah, sexy- Nozomi!”

Nozomi grinned, shrugging her shoulders as if she had been helpless to stop the comment. She padded across the room and placed her hands on Eli’s shoulders, guiding her to the mirror.

“You look beautiful. Nicocchi is going to love you, trust me.”

Eli frowned at her reflection. She had to admit it was a good look, the soft blue of the fabric matching her eyes perfectly, but she still felt nervous. She’d never done anything like this before, she didn’t know what to expect. Nozomi seemed confident though, standing next to her with an encouraging smile, and if Nozomi said it was okay then it had to be, right?

All that was left to do was put up her hair. Eli was halfway to her box of hair ties when she froze, turning to Nozomi with wide eyed horror.

“I don’t know how to dance.”

Nozomi just stared at her, seemingly speechless. Eli tried again.

“Nozomi, _I don’t know how to dance._ ”

That set her off. Nozomi giggled into her hand, shoulders shaking, before breaking out into full out laughter. Several minutes passed before she regained her breath, wiping tears away from her eyes.

“Elichi, you dance _every day_. You’ve been dancing since you knew how to walk!”

“Yeah, but, but-“ Eli frowned, scrunching up her nose as she tried to argue. Nozomi gave a gentle sigh and walked up to her, flicking her lightly on the forehead.

“Calm down, Elichi. There’s no reason to be nervous. Everything is all set up, you look wonderful, you do in fact know how to dance, and Nicocchi really isn’t going to care if you mess up a little. She’s just as focused on her own worries, I’m sure. Both of you really need to learn to loosen up a little. And that’s why I brought some wine with me! Want a glass?”

“You’re not old enough to buy wine yet, I’m not falling for that. Besides, Nico is coming at 9 and it’s- oh god.”

Eli paled as the clock ticked over to the new hour, her heart stopping for a brief second before a shock of nervous energy jumped through her body and reminded her to breath. Nozomi evaluated the time with a much calmer look, nodding to herself.

“Looks like Nicocchi is going to be fashionably late. You better grab your shoes and head out though, don’t want to keep her waiting at the door.”

“She’s probably used to that by now, really.” Eli followed Nozomi’s advice anyways, slipping on her flats and leaving the room. A quick flip of the switch dimmed the lights down in the living room, the electric candles glowing softly. The couch was pushed aside to give more room, an old boom box seated on the cushions. Everything was perfect. Eli allowed herself a deep breath, feeling her body relax as much as it could.

“I’m going to leave now,” Nozomi said. “Good luck, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!”

Eli spun around, a fierce blush on her face, just in time to see Nozomi wink and step out the window. Eli almost had a heart attack before she remembered the fire escape. Then she did have a heart attack, the door bell ringing loudly through the house.

“Alright, Eli, you can do this.”

One more deep, calming breath, and Eli opened the door.

~*~

Eli was beautiful. The room was beautiful. The whole damn world was beautiful, and Nico had to force herself to remember how to breathe. It was near impossible with the way the floor length dress hugged Eli’s body, but Nico managed. She stood in the center of the room, balanced carefully in her tall heels, as Eli fiddled with the boom box. Nico heard the click and whir of the machine and Eli’s sigh of relief as the old machine shivered back into life.

Music started.

It was soft as a whisper, gentle and calm. Eli stood before her with a shy smile, hand outstretched, and Nico took it. The dance began. Slow steps, swaying hips, breaths in sync.

 

_Downtown we let it go_

_Sunset high and our bodies low_

_Blood rush in the hazy glow_

_My hands, your bones_

 

Nico’s heels clicked on the wood floor, in time with the beat of the song and out of time with her rapidly pounding heart. Eli was captivating in the dim light, the orange glow of the candles highlighting her face and catching in her hair as they moved round and round through the room.

“This is a pretty nice set up you’ve got here,” Nico said, her words too loud and rough for the gentle atmosphere. Eli didn’t seem bothered by it.

“Thank you.” A pause, then: “You look beautiful, by the way.”

Nico almost tripped as she stammered out a thanks, glad the lighting hid her blush. When had she become so awkward?

“Or maybe it’s just the new angle,” Eli said with a tilt of her head and a glint of amusement in her eyes.

It wasn’t. It was the elegant frills of Nico’s pink dress, the smoothness of her bare shoulders, the way her bangs curled and framed her face.

_Lose it, lose it, lose it_

_We gotta lose it_

_Lose it, lose it, lose it_

_We gotta lose it_

Nico spun Eli around, Eli twirling with the grace of a ballerina.

“You called the place, didn’t you?”

“Hmm?”

One step, two, and Nico pulled Eli back in, hands settling on her waist.

“The ballet place. You promised you would.”

“Oh, yes, I did. I’m starting next week, helping them teach little kids.”

“That’s great!” Nico beamed, her whole face lighting up at the news. Eli smiled with her, Nico’s excitement overriding her nervousness at the idea. That was why she had done it in the first place, wasn’t it? Anything to see Nico smile.

“Did you know? They watched Love Live and saw our performance. That’s the only reason they hired me, they said. Otherwise I would have been turned down.”

_Find a place and lose it_

_You can do it_

_Won’t you dance with me?_

They moved together, steps flowing seamlessly, their dance a current of smooth motion. Eli relaxed into it, letting the music lead her feet and carry her away.

“I still can’t believe we won,” she admitted, her voice growing soft. “There were so many other groups, girls that had been practicing their entire high school careers, and we came in and won anyways.”

“I told you we would, didn’t I? Your choreography, Umi’s lyrics, Maki’s song, how could we not? We were guaranteed the victory!”

Eli laughed, pure as sunlight. “If you put it that way, then I suppose I can’t argue. But you helped too. You were singing stronger than all of us.”

“Of course! I’m not the Number One Idol for nothing, you know!” Nico grinned, pride filling her. It had been the best performance of her life. One she would never forget.

 

_Make a spark, break the dark_

_Find a light with me_

_Who we are chasing stars_

_Won’t you dance with me?_

_Won’t you dance with me?_

 

This moment, too. This moment was special, almost surreal in that way the night turns songs into fairytales, as if they were floating in their own world and flying between the stars. Time shifted, blurred; they melded into one another, thoughts flowing through the air as words caressed skin. Nico blinked. The lights seemed to grow, spinning around as if she was the one standing still. Then they disappeared, fading into the background. Eli was there instead, bright and shining and beautiful. A soft smile, blue eyes, golden hair falling down her back.

Nico blinked again and the world righted itself. Eli was a solid weight in her arms and Nico laughed, delighted with the undeniable realness of the moment. She looked down at Eli – looked _down_ , and she relished the thought – and grinned wider when she saw Eli’s confusion. It didn’t matter. Eli was here, and that was all Nico cared about.

 

_Move your feet and feel it in the space between_

_You gotta give yourself a moment, let your body be_

_We gotta lose it_

_We gotta lose it_

 

The song changed.

Shoes were kicked into a corner, forgotten entirely; Eli whispered “much better” and caught Nico in her arms, swinging her around. Their hair flew wildly, dresses swirling, laughter filling the air.

 

_This woman is my destiny_

_She said ooh-ooh-hoo_

_Shut up and dance with me_

Nico stepped away with a twinkle in her eye. She did a flashy move from one of their idol dances, spinning around and posing grandly. Eli followed her lead, and then they were dancing a BiBi song mixed with barely accurate waltzing.

“I think we’re doing this wrong,” Eli breathed, laughter in her voice.

“Nonsense! This is _exactly_ how you tango!”

“Oh really? How about I show you a true tango then.”

Before Nico could response she was pulled tight against Eli, one hand grasped firmly and the other placed on Eli’s waist. She was twirled, lifted, captivated by the look in Eli’s eyes, until Eli’s foot caught behind her ankle in the middle of a fancy move and they tumbled to the ground.

“Wow, Eli, this is the second time you’ve fallen on top of me. Is there something I should know?”

“Yeah, that you need to be comfier to land on.” Eli pulled Nico to her feet.

 

_A backless dress and some beat up sneaks_

_My discotheque Juliet teenage dream_

_I felt it in my chest as she looked at me_

_I knew we were bound to be together_

_Bound to be together_

Who knew dancing would be this fun? Eli knew all about the fun of ballet, of flying through the air and spinning, spinning, spinning. She knew all about the fun of idol performances, boosted by the comfort of her friends and the cheers of the audience. This was something else. It was intimate, Nico warm in her arms; exciting, with no warning of what would happen next, no rules or pattern to follow. It felt like one of the most important moments in her life.

“Hey, Nico?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for being here.”

Nico gave her a strange look, eyebrows furrowed. “Don’t tell me you’re getting all sentimental on me, Ayase! This is the wrong kind of song for that.”

“Sorry, I’ll wait for the hour long Russian bell ringing song instead.”

“If a song like that comes up then I’m breaking up with you on the spot.”

“Good thing the rest of the cd is fifty copies of your Nico Puri song then, isn’t it?”

“Ah, you’re such a charmer.”

Nico grabbed Eli by the hands and pulled her around, humming loudly off key to the music. Eli made sure to sing worse.

 

_Deep in her eyes_

_I think I see the future_

_I realize this is my last chance_

 

“Are you singing in Russian?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You are!” Nico hit Eli lightly on the shoulder; Eli laughed. “Not fair! This is a Japanese only date, you hear?”

“Aw, but that’s no fun. What about a different language? Hebrew? Italian? Ancient Greek?”

“Now you’re just being dumb. No way do you know those languages.”

“Not yet.” Eli laughed more when Nico rolled her eyes, swinging her around again just because she could.

 

_Oh don’t you dare look back_

_Just keep your eyes on me_

_I said you’re holding back_

_She said shut up and dance with me_

 

Nico was better at this, by far. She moved to the beat, hips shaking and arms swinging, while Eli was stuck in the graceful posture of ballet. It didn’t matter. Nico danced in circles, jumping, singing, pulling Eli with her. Her hands were hot, burning, but Eli was burning too. The song was the fuel to their fire. They burned brighter than the candles, stronger, hotter, an everlasting flame. They might explode.

They wondered why they had ever been nervous.

Be yourself, their friends had said. Loosen up, they said. There’s no reason to worry.

So they didn’t. They felt the music course through their veins, hearts pounding, legs moving. One step, two, and they never stopped. They couldn’t. They were bound together, hands connected, fingers touching, eyes locked on one another.

Jump. Twirl. Pose. Step apart, step back. The music brought them higher and higher and higher, breaths rushed and faces flushed and feet moving, moving, moving. Always moving, pushing forward, pressing onwards. There was no stopping them now. They were together, now and always.

 

The song changed, and the tension faded away like melting snow.

Eli pulled Nico closer, swaying gently as she sang along. Nico rested her head on Eli’s shoulder, feeling the music flow through her. They turned slowly, lazily, moving to their own pace. The candles were orange dots to Nico’s half closed eyes, glowing and fading as they spun in their slow, sweet circle.

“Is this what you expected?” Eli asked, her voice soft. “That first day you came to my door, I mean. Did you ever expect this to happen?”

“The only thing I expected was for you to catch on faster. Sometimes your denseness is amazing, you know?” Nico grinned up at Eli, laughing silently at her pout.

 

_We don’t need to rush this_

_Let’s just take it slow_

 

“Be serious, Nico. I want to know.”

“Alright, alright.” Had she expected it? She had wanted it, that much she knew. No matter how things turned out, she had wanted to spend more time with Eli before the chance was lost. Walking to Eli’s door that first day had been a trial of courage.

Did she think that Eli would return her feelings? Nico had barely known her own feelings back then. But that’s what she had been working for the whole time, hoping that if they spent enough time together, she and Eli would make that final connection.

“I don’t know,” Nico finally said, “but I’m glad it happened.”

That seemed to be the answer Eli wanted. She smiled, eyes sparkling, an extra skip in her step.

 

_I know that if we give this a little time_

_It’ll only bring us closer_

_To the love we wanna find_

_It’s never felt so real_

_No it’s never felt so right_

 

“Did you?” Nico asked.

“Not in the least.”

Eli barely remembered that day, so many weeks ago.  She remembered frustration, confusion, embarrassment, not to mention a whole lot of awkwardness. Making friends was hard. Turning that friendship into a relationship? Surprisingly easy, all things considered. It could have gone much worse. They could have danced around their feelings for months, never taking that last step and destroying the bond before it could even form.

“I think the Valentine’s Day chocolates helped clue me in though,” Eli said.

“Don’t say that like you’re proud you figured it out, those chocolates were practically a full blown confession!”

“Hmmm, I think you should have included a love letter with them. That would have been better.”

“No way! I’m a third year, I don’t need to sink that low. If anything you should write me one, you’re the younger one here.”

They danced with smiles on their faces. Eli’s dress swirled around her legs, brushing softly against their bare feet. Every step was light, swaying, as they dipped down low and rose again. Hands rested on shoulders, waists, keeping them connected even as they moved apart. Then they were back in again, legs bumping but not tangled, no step in err. They were in perfect sync.

 

_Just a shot in the dark that you just might_

_Be the one I’ve been waiting for my whole life_

_So baby I’m alright, ooh, let’s do this right_

_With just a kiss goodnight_

 

Some moments didn’t need words. Music filled the room, candles burned, time passed. They smiled, laughed, let the energy of the night flow through them. Time meant nothing. Everything they needed was in this one room, within each other, growing stronger with every look, every touch. There were no worries in this moment. Love Live was won, graduation had passed, and the future was bright.

The sky had turned a deep blue. The stars twinkled with all their might. The moon shone, a round happy face. The beauty of it all was lost between the two, but they had no need for it. The air hummed with fading music, the silence left behind almost magical in its stillness. They moved close to each other, hearts beating fast and breaths coming slow.

Then they met, eyes closed and lips warm, and there was no more need for magic.


End file.
